


Back To The Start

by Asu_Silsa



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Drama, F/M, Romance, Sokkla
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:33:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 32,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26041204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asu_Silsa/pseuds/Asu_Silsa
Summary: After three years of not seeing Ursa and Zuko, Azula is forced to move back in with them. (Modern AU)
Relationships: Azula/Sokka (Avatar), Sokkla - Relationship
Comments: 28
Kudos: 120





	1. Chapter 1

"How is she doing?"

"I don't know, she has always kept to herself" her mother sighed nervously, "but she's refusing to unpack, or even come out of her room."

"I suppose that's to be expected," the man replied,

"I'm worried- what if he comes back and tries to take her?"

"Then we'll stop him," he assured, "We have dealt with these things before ."

"I- I know that- I just,"

"Don't worry," The man said, placing a hand on her mother's shoulder, "There's a lot of good men and women out there looking for Ozai, I'm sure they'll find him."

"Thank you Dr. Lawton." 

"I'll come back tomorrow to speak with her again," He assured, making his way out the door.

Azula stared down at them from atop the stairs, fists clenched; biting on the inside of her cheek. Of course, child protective services couldn't just leave her alone. Dr. Lawton had been insistent on talking to her everyday, and while she was excellent at dodging his questions, it was still a constant annoyance. 

Three weeks ago Azula was happy living her life in her Father's care. She hadn't spoken to anyone, besides her two best friends, in three years.

That was until her father's mansion was suddenly raided, by cops, while he was away. 

Azula was taken in custody and asked a bunch of questions, none of which she was expecting. She thought the cops had come to arrest her father for his ties with the Agni Kai, but they hadn't. In fact it seemed like they had zero clue he was involved with any sort of mafia activity at all.

To make things worse, her grandfather Azulon was nowhere to be found, he was now supposed to be her legal guardian, but no one could get a hold of him. It seemed like he completely vanished.

She was stuck, stuck with her awful mother; loser brother; her annoying old friends. The only people she had now were Mai and Ty Lee, but she couldn't tell them what was really going on.

She felt so alone.

Ozai needed to hurry up and come back for her already, he promised she wouldn't be left behind.

"What are you doing?" A familiar voice behind her asked, making her jump.

"I don't see how that's any of your business Zuzu," She glared up to him as she walked down the stairs,

"Azula, Zuko! Are you ready for school," she asked nervously,

"As I'll ever be!" Azula mocked in a cheerful tone. It was going to be her first day back to her old public school, needless to say she wasn't looking forward to it. 

"Azula, I know this is hard on you-" Ursa started,

"Don't." Azula said simply as she grabbed an apple from the kitchen.

"Why are you such a- butthead!," Zuko groaned,

"Wow- great insult dumbass." 

"At least I have enough honor to not curse in front of our mom!"

"Please don't argue," Ursa pleaded, "Zuko will you please drive your sister to school today."

"I'd rather die then show up to school with him-" Azula argued, "Can't I just walk?"

"No Azula, how will I know if you get to school safety?" Ursa stated, "Please just go with Zuko, he drives Katara, Aang, and Sokka to school everyday too! It won't be just you."

Azula rolled her eyes, "Great, now I will show up to school with not one loser but four."

"Hey! We're not losers!" Zuko whined

"Then why are you called the loser squad?"

"No one calls us that!" He huffed, "And might I remind you, you used to be in that squad too!"

"Unwilling! It's not like I-" 

Ursa sighed heavily, "That's enough arguing! Azula you're going with Zuko and that's final!"

Azula just groaned as she stormed outside,

"It's not like I want to drive you!" Zuko sneered

"Zuko, I know Azula is difficult, " She sighed, handing him his lunch, "but she's having a hard time right now, so please try to bear with it."

Zuko signed and nodded as he shoved his lunch into his backpack,"I understand."

Ursa walked with Zuko outside and hugged him tightly. She looked to Azula stepping towards her,

"Don't even think about it, Ursa," Azula said pushing passed her towards the car.

"Bye mom," Zuko said following his sister, "See you after school!"

Sokka, Katara, and Aang were all waiting next to Zuko’s car. Even though she had been here for almost a month, she had luckily been able to avoid them. It would be an understatement to say things did not end well.

They had all been neighbors since they were little. Zuko became quick friends with them, which meant Azula had to hang out with them too. She wouldn’t admit to having actually enjoyed their company, some more than others, but when her parents got divorced Ozai assured her she would be better cutting ties with them.

So she did.

“Hey guys!” Zuko said, walking over to them.

“Morning Zuko!” Aang smiled brightly towards Zuko before he noticed who was beside him, “A-and Azula!”

Sokka and Katara both exchanged glances before glaring at Azula,

“I guess now that big daddy is gone you think things can just go back to how they were?” Sokka scoffed,

“Oh please, I thought I made it clear I’d never willingly hang out with any of you losers.” Azula retorted, swallowing the knot in her throat as she glared at them.

Sokka stepped towards her angrily before Aang quickly put his arm over his chest, “Please, let's not fight.”

Azula walked past the group and climbed into the passenger seat of the car, hoping to avoid further conversation.

“Mom is making me drive her,” Zuko signed

“We’re not mad at you Zuko, but it’s not like we can just play nice with her!” Katara said,

“Didn’t say you had too, just ignore her.” He replied, “Come on, let's get going.”

They all exchanged glances before getting into Zuko’s car. The usual playful banter was replaced with silence. 

Azula stared at her phone, trying to ignore how heavy the air around her felt. She was sure mother did this to her as a punishment of some sort. 

Aang broke the ice and started talking about some project he was working on for school. Azula felt a wave of relief as the others joined into conversation for the rest of the ride.

As soon as the car parked at the school Azula was out of it,

"Hey wait," Zuko said, following her out of the car, "Do you want help- like signing in?"

"Oo playing the big brother role now, are we Zuzu?" Azula smirked,

"Jesus Azula! Do you have to be a bitch all the time!?" He sneered,

"Pulling out the big boy words now that Ursa's gone?" She responded,

"First of all-, " Zuko started before he was interrupted by a small squealing cheerleader,

"Azula!!" The girl squealed, tackling Azula, "You're actually here!"

"Clearly." She responded, stunned by Ty Lee's embrace, "Can you let go now?"

"Oh sorry!" She smiled, "I've just- I haven't seen you, like in the real world, in three years! You got so pretty!"

"Well of course I did!"

Zuko and his friends stood there awkwardly, Ty Lee's cheerfulness was both infections and terrifying.

"Oh my god!" Ty Lee gasped, "I didn't mean to interrupt, I'm sorry!"

"You didn't, let's go." Azula said, starting to walk away, "These losers aren't worth our time."

"Don't be so mean." Ty Lee said following her, before turning to wave at the gang, "Bye guys! See you later!"

Katara and Aang both waved back before looking over to their more annoyed friends. Zuko looked like he was trying to come up with some amazing comeback, while Sokka was stomping off into the school building,

"Todays sure off to a good start," Aang sighed, patting Zuko on the back, "Come on, let's get to class."

Zuko just sighed and followed his friends into the building.

Meanwhile Ty Lee continued rambling about her school life as the two girls found their other friend,

"Azula," Mai smirked, "Don't try to pawn Ty Lee off to me, she hasn't shut up about you all month."

Azula looked from Mai to Ty Lee, who kept talking despite her friends displeasure,

"Fine," Azula sighed, "But you’re picking me up for school from now on. I don’t think I can take another ride with Zuko’s friends"

“Weren’t they your friends at some point?” Mai questioned,

“Not the point!” Azula groaned, “I don't want to have to deal with those losers, and Ty Lee’s overbearing cheerfulness.”

“I see your point.” Mai nodded, looking over to Ty Lee,

"Oh come on!" Ty Lee frowned, "Can't I be happy we're finally together again?"

"Absolutely not." Mai said,

"Ug!" Ty Lee groaned, "Whatever! I know you guys are happy about being back together too!"

"Are not!" Both Mai and Azula lied. Ty Lee just shook her head and grabbed both of her friends by their arms,

"You two are impossible!" Ty Lee said, dragging her friends into the school with her.

Azula walked down the hall with her friends. She looked around at all the different students, some stopped and waved at Ty Lee, others went through their lockers bickering with their friends.

Ty Lee and Mai both stopped at their own lockers,

"Azula, do you know what classes you have yet?" Ty Lee asked,

"No, I still need to goto the office." She said

"Want us to come with!" She smiled,

"You just want an excuse to skip class." Mai said, rolling her eyes.

"What! That's not true!" Ty Lee insisted, "What if Azula needs help?"

"I assure you I won't." She said, starting to walk towards the direction of the office.

"Wait!," Ty Lee started,

"Calm down, I'll see you at lunch." Azula assured as she kept walking before her friend could protest further.

She heard the bell ring as she stepped into the office, students behind her scrambled to get into their classrooms.

"Oh, hello." An older lady said, "Shouldn't you be off to class?"

"It's my first day, I never got my class schedule." Azula said approaching the desk,

"I see! My apologies," The lady replied, "What's your name?"

"Azula Kouen."

"Ah! Here you are!" She smiled, "Azula Kouen, 16, Senior, correct?"

"Correct." Azula nodded,

"Alright, let me just print your schedule for you!" She said, typing on her computer, "Your locker number is 0226, and your homeroom is class 205; AP Algebra. I can take you there if you'd like?"

"No thank you, I can manage." Azula assured,

"Okay well," The lady said, handing Azula her schedule, "If you need anything else let me know!"

Azula nodded towards the other lady and stepped into the now empty hallway. She would be ten minutes late to class by the time she found her homeroom.

She looked down at her schedule as she approached the door. Azula know it was stupid to be nervous, father would shun her for such stupid behavior, but she couldn't help it.

Azula took a deep breath as her hand went onto the door, pulling herself into a confident smirk. She'd make sure the students here knew,

She wasn't going to be stuck with them,  
They were going to be stuck with her.


	2. Chapter 2

Sokka was always early for class, especially homeroom. He liked the teacher, and he didn’t find any of his classmates particularly annoying. Usually he would be greeting them all with his classic sarcastic remarks, but he wasn't in the mood. Seeing Azula again made the blood boil in his veins. 

When they were all kids Zuko would come over all the time. Eventually Ursa started forcing Azula to come along too. She didn’t fit in as easily as Zuko did though, her and Katara would always attack each other, she was too violent for Aang, and she always made fun of Sokka. It took a while for them all to warm up to her, to trust her, to find her dark humor funny. 

After that she would always seem so excited to come over and hang out. She still made fun of Sokka everyday; it became mutual bickering; they fought over almost everything, but it was fun. They used to talk from their windows at night, their rooms had always been right across from each other, Sokka had thought they were close. Deep down he even hoped she would come back and apologize;tell him that she did actually like them; that she was lying.

He was an idiot to hope for that.

The bell rang, and all the students hurried to sit down in their seats.

"Good morning everyone!" His teacher said, "Who is ready to learn today!"

The class remained silent besides a few groans from the students. Mr. Everrett just smiled in response, ignoring their complaints, he started to write on the board,

"Today we're going to be diving into the fantastic world of-" Mr. Everett started, before he was stopped by the sound of the door opening.

Azula walked in front of the whole class, her back stood straight; bangs framing her perfect face. Sokka, along with the rest of the class, stared at her in confused, 

"Oh hello!" The teacher turned to her, scratching the back of his head, "I don't believe I've met you before, are you in the right class?"

Sokka watched her wide eyed as she stared the man up and down, "I just transferred, it's my first day." She stated blunty, handing some papers to him.

She was really in his class, he thought over and over. How could this be happening, she was two years younger than him, had she skipped two grades and no one bothered to give him the memo? 

"Oh of course! I saw I was getting a new student in the system- I just didn't realize you started today, or that you would be so- so uh, young," Mr. Everett rambled, growing increasingly nervous as Azula raised her eyebrow to him, "Class we have a new student joining us today! Her name is-"

"Azula Kouen." She said, finishing his sentence for him.

"Yes- Uh thank you for introducing yourself, you can sit," He smiled, quickly scanning over the class, "Right over there!"

Sokka almost choked as the teacher pointed to the seat next to him. His eyes locked with hers for a second, just long enough for him to catch what looked like a sign of nervousness. Nervous? This was Azula he was talking about, she was never nervous; that would be ridiculous, right?

"Thank you." She nodded, walking past Mr. Everett, and taking her seat next to Sokka.

"If you need any help with the materials, I'm sure Sokka would be happy to help you!" The teacher insisted, clearing his throat, "Alright class where were we?"

Mr. Everett continued his lesson, but some of the class kept glancing at Azula curiously as she pulled everything out her bag. Sokka also took the chance to glance over to her, watching her place everything perfectly across her desk. He quickly turned away when she looked up to him,

"I didn't think you'd be smart enough to get in this class," Azula whispered to him, smirking, "I thought you'd be stuck with my brother."

"And I thought you were stuck with daddy," Sokka said glaring at her, "Guess he changed his mind?"

“Don’t talk like you know anything loser!,” Azula glared, her voice sounding more angry than before; maybe Sokka went a bit too far. Her dad had always been a touchy subject after all,

“You’re right I don’t know anything about you.” He glared back, “Never did never have, right?”

“Right.” She nodded, finally turning away from him. They were silent for the rest of the class, but Sokka could feel how tense the air between them was. When the bell rang Sokka was quick to be out of his seat and on his way to his next class. 

So she was in one class with him, so what? Sokka wasn’t going to let it bother him, he could just ignore her, but his plans were shattered when he realized Azula was in his next class too. She was in his first period, then his second, then his third. Each time they were forced near each other she was sending him rude remarks. He tried to ignore her but by the end of fourth period they were both at eachothers throats. 

He was about to lose his mind as he made his way to the lunch room. How did she even manage to get into every one of his classes, he never shared more than one class with any of his friends.

She really was lucky wasn’t she. 

Sokka slammed his backpack onto the lunch table as he sat down causing his friends to quickly turn to him,

“What.”

“What's wrong with you today snoozles?” Toph asked, putting her sandwich down,

“Yeah, I thought you would have calmed down by now.” Katara added,

“How am I supposed to “calm down” when she's in all my classes!” He replied, raising his arms into the air,

“She?” Toph questioned,

“My crazy lil sister, she finally started school today,” Zuko responded, “I heard she skipped two grades but I didn’t think she would have been in all your classes.”

“You knew!” Sokka said, sitting up angrily, “Why didn’t you say anything!”

“I just found out recently! I didn’t think about it too hard,” He replied, “I thought she would end up taking classes with me to be honest.”

“Okay well she didn’t,” Sokka argued, “If you told me I could have at least mentally prepared for her!”

“Damn, I haven’t seen you this riled up in a while snoozles!” Toph snickered, 

“It’s not funny,” Sokka glared, pulling his lunch out of his backpack,

“Toph leave Sokka alone,” Katara said glaring at her friend,

“Fine, sugar queen.” Toph said, biting into her sandwich, “Whatever you say.”

“I’m sure everything will work out!” Aang assured, patting Katara on the back, “I know Azula isn’t exactly our friend anymore, but I’m sure she's going through a lot right now. Let’s not stoop to her level!”

“You sound like my mom Aang,” Zuko groaned, 

“Looks like you’ve got some competition for the “mom friend” sugar queen,” Toph snickered,

“I’m not a mom!” Katara yelled, making everyone, including Sokka, laugh.

\--------------------

Azula stood in front of her locker as the students around her ran to lunch. She was neatly organizing her books into her locker, trying not to think about him.

Why of all people did she have to be stuck with Sokka. She could handle any of her old friends, she could handle Zuko, but not Sokka. She knew she probably hurt him the most, and it made her feel something she knew her father would shun her for, regret.

She shouldn’t regret it, she shouldn’t feel bad for telling them all she hated them; saying they disgusted her; they were worthless. She shouldn’t regret telling Sokka she had just used him to kill time, so why did she.

Azula shook her head, trying to shake away her thoughts. If Ozai knew what she had been thinking, he might never come back. She had done everything to stay by his side, Ozai had been proud of her, he is proud of her. She can’t be going around discarding his advice now that he's gone. He would come back for her, right? He needed her.

Azula gritted her teeth, her only focus should be on finding out what was going on, where her dad is; why hasn't her grandfather come for her yet; why hasn’t anyone else? She couldn’t get distracted with stupid emotions, and old friends, it wasn't important.

“There you are!” Ty Lee smiled as she tackle hugged Azula, “We’ve been looking for you everywhere!” 

“It’s been annoying.” Mai stated, looking down at her phone, “How was class?”

“Uneventful, surprisingly I share the same classes Sokka does.” Azula said as calmly as possible.

“Oh- I’m sorry.” Ty lee frowned, letting go of her friend. 

“For what?” Azula asked, raising her eyebrow,

“Well- ya know, you liked him and stuff- but things didn't end well, clearly.” Ty lee rambled, receiving a look from Mai.

“Do not go there Ty Lee," Azula glared, "I don't like him."

"Sorry sorry! I'm dropping it," Ty Lee assured, tapping her fingers together, "Come on we're missing lunch! I'm hungry!"

The small girl grabbed both of her friend's arms and guided them to the lunch room. She greeted everyone happily as they passed them, Azula thought she might pick one of the crowded tables, but instead Ty Lee found an empty one just for the three of them.

"There!" She smiled, "Far from everyone!" 

"Still not quiet enough," Mai signed, "Everyone at this school is so loud."

"They're not that bad!" Ty Lee insisted, taking her food from her backpack. Ty Lee started to ramble as she ate, she told Azula about all the cute boys she talked to; how cheerleading had been going; all the parties she had been going to. Nothing Azula hadn’t heard before,

“Now that you don't live with your dad, that means you can leave the house right?” Ty Lee asked, taking a bite into her salad, "Or even have people over?"

“What do you mean?” Azula questioned,

“Well, you're dad would never let you hang out with us-" Ty Lee started,

"I had things I needed to do is all," Azula interrupted,

"Right, of course!" Ty Lee sighed, playing with her food before taking another bite, "but now that you're not busy, we need to have a sleepover!"

"I'm good thanks," Mai said, not looking up from her phone,

"Yeah, why would I wanna do that," Azula bluntly said,

"Oh come on! We can help you unpack-"

"Absolutely not," Azula interrupted,

"Okay no to that, but we could talk, and tell ghost stories just like we used too!" Ty Lee smiled, "Plus who else am I gonna talk boys with but you guys?"

"Don't you already do that?" Mai sighed,

"I didn't tell you about Chan!" Ty Lee said, causing Azula to raise her eyebrow to her, "See! I can have secrets too!"

"Chan? Like Chan whose dad works with my father Chan?" Azula asked, "He goes here?"

"Uh I think it's the same one, he's on the football team," Ty Lee replied, but before Azula could respond the bell rang, "I guess we can talk about it when we have a sleepover!" 

"What? We're not-!" Azula started, but Ty Lee had already got up and ran away before she could respond.

"She's impossible," Mai rolled her eyes. Azula just groaned in response and got up, beginning to walk to her next class. Not that it mattered if she showed up, considering she could barely pay attention. She was busy thinking of what to do next, in fact she spent the rest of the day coming up with a plan.

Chan's father had "worked" with Ozai in the past, they had been close before he betrayed her father in pursuit of looking good in front of her grandfather Azulon. Maybe Chan's father knows something, she might be able to get information out of him.

By the time school was out Azula was on the way to the football field, she knew they had to practice everyday after school so it was her best bet to find him. If she was lucky he would be alone, and threatening him would be easy.

She was sneaking along a wall, looking at the passing students when Zuko suddenly approached her,

“Finally! There you are,” He signed, making her jump, “What the hell are you doing out here?!”

“What the hell are you doing following me?,” She glared, 

“I wasn't following you!,” He defended, “Come on let's go home.”

“Mai and Ty Lee are giving me a ride,” She stated, turning away from him, “So you and your lameass friends can be happy without me.”

“Mom wants me to drive you home, at least for today.” He said, making her sigh in response, “Don’t worry, everyone in the “loser” club has after school activities too, so it’s just us.”

“You say that like that's any better.” She groaned, 

“Can’t you just let me be a nice brother for once,” he scoffed, “Must we fight.”

“We must,” She said, walking past him toward the parking lot, “Well, come on Zuzu! I don’t have all day.”

“Hey! I’m not your slave!” He said, walking after her,

“Then what’s the point of your existence exactly?” Azula taunted, smirking at him,

“Don't make me leave you here.” He groaned, glaring down at her,

“What would Ursa say then, huh?” She said approaching his car, 

“Why can’t you call her mom?” He replied, pulling out his keys and unlocking the doors, “She really missed you.”

“Don’t lie Zuzu, it doesn’t suit you,” She said, climbing into the car. He just shook his head and sighed as he started to drive them home.

They didn’t share a word for the whole car ride, but Azula couldn't stop repeating those words in her head,

She missed me?

That couldn't be true, she didn't even want me. Right?


	3. Chapter 3

“Careful Azula!,” Her father whispered, glaring down at her, “What have I told you about being quiet?” 

“Sorry father.” Azula nodded, as she followed him through the forest. The morning air was crisp, her skin felt like ice. Ozai and her were on their monthly hunting trip. He had woken her up before dawn; told her they needed to move fast, and keep quiet. Azula couldn’t spot the animal they were tracking; she wasn’t tall enough to see above the bushes, however she knew it was much larger than the deer they usually went after.

Ozai stopped beside her; his hunting rifle steady in his hands. She positioned herself accordingly, copying his position. Her father said she was too young to hold a gun, but he let her carry a knife. The forest was silent, just still sounds of wind whistling through the leaves; It was suffocating her. She watched Ozai scan the trees. The sound of twig snapping echoed through their ears, she snapped her head in the sounds direction; trying to see anything.

“Let’s go,” He mumbled, moving slowly from tree to tree. He never looked back to see if she followed; she was expected at his side. Her face almost slammed into his legs when he stopped suddenly. Azula felt his hand on her back as he pushed her down behind a boulder; his eyes never left the target. She studied him carefully as he readied his weapon; she heard his breath steady. The shot echoed through the trees; she could spot a few birds fly away,

“Did you get it?” She whispered up to him, gripping her knife tighter,

“You doubt me?” He coldly replied as he lowered his gun. Her father left her next to the boulder; he slowly walked next to his target; staring down at it before kneeling over the corpse. He looked up at her smirking as his body slowly dissolved before her.

“Father?” She panicked, running toward where he was, “D-dad?”

Azula could feel the cold air wrap around her throat as darkness surrounded her. There was no corpse, just a puddle of blood. Ozai was missing; not even his gun could be found. The trees around her were quickly dissipating, turning into dark smoke.

“Dad!” She cried, searching rapidly for him. Her breath quickened; air tightening around her as she backed away, “Where are you!”

She tried to grip her knife but it vanished into smoke. What had once been a forest was now nothing but a thick black fog. Her mind frantically tried to search for anything; she could no longer breathe. Her heart pounding in her chest. Suffocating she looked down to her hands; barely visible; she could only see blood.

“Father!” Azula jolted awake, sitting up and looking frantically around her. Her hand quickly went to her left shoulder, it was still there. She was no longer in a forest; just her bedroom; everything was perfect, just as she left it. She took a deep breath and stared down at her hands, her nails were perfect; spotless; no blood. A small breath of relief escaped her lips. Since when did she have nightmares? Azula usually didn’t dream, and if she did they were of her winning. She shook her head,

“This is ridiculous,” She sighed, “Getting so worked up for some dream, father would be disappointed.” 

It was barely dawn outside; the night still seeped over her room, but she decided to get up regardless. Azula has always been an early riser, especially on the weekends; despite her best efforts. It was already saturday; she spent most of the week trying to get information out of Chan, but after Ty Lee told him she was enrolled in their school, he had been making sure to avoid her. She couldn’t blame him, since she was going to threaten him after all, but it was still annoying. 

Two more deep breaths, and she could feel her heartbeat calm to its normal pace. She took a look at herself in the mirror, her hair was a chaotic mess; how unbecoming. She was quick to brush it out, making sure to part it perfectly down the middle, before pulling her hair back into a top knot. She looked at herself again, bangs symmetrical to her face, it couldn't look more perfect if she tried.

Azula opened her closet; it was mostly empty, she had only unpacked the necessary amount of clothes, everything else was left in the boxes neatly stacked against her wall. She dressed herself carefully, putting on her shorts, t-shirt, half-cut hoodie, and her favorite pair of running shoes. 

Neither Zuko nor Ursa were awake when Azula slipped out of the house, but she would make sure to be back before they noticed she was gone; Ursa wouldn’t believe she was actually just jogging. She used to be able to properly work out every morning at her father's home gym, but Ursa didn’t have any such equipment. Instead she just opted for jogging every morning, doing her basic stretches; pushups and situps. Ozai would kill her if she lost all of her athletic progress. She just wished she had someone to spar with. She had thought she could just beat Zuzu up like the good old days, but that will just end with her getting in more trouble.

The cold air felt great against her skin, she tried not to think about how cold she felt in her dream. Azula just wanted to forget about it, hunting trips with her father had been some of her best memories with him, why would her head try to villainize that?

Her feet picked up off the ground, her jog had turned into a hard sprint. She was going to be fine; Ozai wouldn’t disappear like that; she needs to stop being ridiculous.

\---------------

It was around eight by the time she got home. Azula was already showered and properly dressed by the time Ursa woke up for work. She sat at her desk doing her homework as she listened to the mumbles coming from downstairs. They were eating breakfast; without her, as usual. Sokka should be over around ten, he always came over to hang out with Zuko on the weekends, something about not wanting to be around Katara and Aang. They were usually too scared to come upstairs and bother her, so she was able to stay locked in her room.

"Azula!" She could hear Ursa call from downstairs, "I'm leaving! Please try to unpack today, I'm sure Zuko will help you!"

Azula just rolled her eyes, refusing to respond. Ursa didn't say anything else to her, but she could hear her sigh. Why did she care so much about her unpacking anyway? She never wanted her here in the first place.

She missed you. Zuko's words echoed through her head.

Lies.

Azula heard Ursa mumble one last thing to Zuko before leaving for work, if only she had better ears. She leaned back in her chair, homework hadn’t taken long and now she had nothing to do. Her currents covered her windows, but she could see Sokka leaving his room through the cracks. Their rooms have always been across from each other, they always used to spend all night talking to each other.

It wasn't long before she could hear the two boys laughing from downstairs. She almost felt left out, almost. They weren't friends; she made peace with that; regret was wasteful; friends were, well useless of course. Right? 

"You can just say you asked, and you know, lie," She heard a voice come up the stairs,

"I promised my mom I'd at least try," She her Zuko say, closely approaching her room,

"Mama's boy."

"Shut up Sokka," Zuko said before knocking on Azula's door, 

"What do you want Zuzu," She said, opening to door and glaring at him,

"Mom doesn't want you to stay in your room all day- again." He said, attempting to smile at her,

"Oh well if Ursa doesn't want me too then of course," She said as sarcastically as possible, 

"Come on! It's not healthy," He insisted, "You could at least unpac-"

"This isn't my home, so I am not unpacking to pretend that it is," She glared, "but fine Zuzu if you absolutely insist on me leaving my room, I guess I can find some entertainment with you."

Azula walked past the two boys, she saw Sokka elbow his friend in the stomach,

"I-i meant more like uh hanging out with Ty Lee and Mai, for instance," He said, “I know Ty Lee has been dying for you to go to her house.”

"I thought "mom" put you in charge of making me leave my room, therefore you can entertain me," She smirked, walking down the stairs,

"Look what you did!" Sokka whispered,

"How was I supposed to know she would want to hang out with us! She hates us!" Zuko replied, "This isn't my fault!”

“How could you not think this would happen!” Sokka insisted, “It’s Azula!”

“Your bickering is cute and all, but if you’re going to keep that up perhaps you should just bring Sokka to your room Zuzu,” Azula smirked, sitting down on the couch,

“Really Azula? That's the best you got.” Sokka rolled his eyes,

“Come on, it was pretty funny,” She stated,

“Can you please try to not be difficult Azula.,” Zuko said, glaring at her,

“Whatever do you mean Zuzu?” She snickered, 

Sokka and Zuko both sat down, trying to make the best of this situation, they went back to playing whatever video game. This felt more awkward then being stuck in a car with them for some reason, it was clear they were ignoring her, how boring. She just sighed and watched them play. Azula remembered Zuko being much worse at shooters before, but now he was kicking Sokka's ass. 

“Wow Sokka, good job dying!” She chuckled, receiving a glare from him,

“Like you could do better!” He said,

“Easily,” She assured, nodding her head. Zuko walked over to her and placed his controller into her hands,

“Then prove it, I’m going to go make lunch. Don't strangle each other please!” He said while walking into the kitchen,

“No promises,” Sokka mumbled, “Are you ready to lose Zul- Azula?”

“Oh please, the only one losing here is you.” She smirked, for a second it almost looked like Sokka smiled at her. They used to play shooter games with each other all the time, to be honest he would play with her more than he would play with Zuko. She could still get away with playing them when her father wasn’t around, it was the one thing she did for fun. They played round after round, Azula winning most of the rounds; passively making Sokka more and more irritated, until he finally won of course,

“What!” Azula yelled, standing up; throwing her hands into the air, “Impossible! You had to have cheated!”

“Oh come on Zula,” Sokka said confidently, a smirk creeping onto his face, “I didn’t think you were still such a sore loser.”

“I’m not a sore loser!” She insisted, sitting back down, “We’re playing again! Come on!”

“You two are getting along well- I thought one of you would be dead by now.” Zuko said, walking back into the room with a pizza. Both Sokka and Azula looked at each other before returning to their sour mood,

“Were not getting along,” Azula insisted; Sokka nodded in agreement, stealing a piece of pizza and shoving it in his mouth,

“Right-” Zuko replied, sitting down next to Sokka. They both continued to eat as Azula switched her controller for her phone. She had fifty unread messages from Ty Lee; all about her date with Chan next week, how annoying. She wasn’t sure how to tell Ty Lee what a jerk Chan was, but she was sure Chan would just make up some lie about how Azula was jealous; couldn't be further from the truth. 

“Are you not going to eat?” Zuko asked, biting into his pizza,

“Greasy food isn't in my diet,” She said, not looking up from her phone,

“Greasy food isn't in my diet,” Sokka mimicked, “When did you become such a killjoy? No wonder we’re not friends”

“I’m not a killjoy!” She glared, “Unlike you I actually take care of myself!”

“So this was your choice?” He asked, glaring right back at her, “Not daddy’s?”

“I don’t see how that's relevant.” She answered, looking back at her phone. Sokka opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, there was a knock at the door,

“I’ll get it.” Zuko said, getting up and leaving the living room. They didn’t say anything to each other, Sokka just kept eating the pizza grumpily. Why did it matter if father cared about what she ate? He was just looking out for her like he always did; clearly Sokka wouldn’t understand that since he's such a glutton. Earning takes sacrifice, she nodded to herself.

“Azula,” Zuko said as he came back into the room; a tall man following him, “Dr. Lawton wants to see you.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Hello Azula.” Dr. Lawton smiled at her. He had taken her to the next room; both of them sitting at the dining table. She could hear Sokka and Zuko playing games in the living room, luckily they wouldn’t be able to hear anything, “So you started school this week?”

“Obviously,” She stated; she hated these talks. He insisted on talking with her every week, as if she would give him new information. Ursa was currently trying to get full custody of her, but since her grandfather disappeared and her father was on the run, it luckily was proving more difficult than expected. She could tell Ursa hoped that Azula would tell him Ozai was abusive so it would be easier to get custody. That only made Azula hate her more. Her father cared about her much more than her supposive mother did,

“How did that go?” He asked, “Your mother said you used to be friends with the neighbors, did you hang out with them?”

“It was fine, I hung out with Mai and Ty Lee most of the day,” She said, “It’s just school, nothing difficult.”

“I’m glad to hear you’re adjusting well,” He smiled, “Have you unpacked yet?”

“I don’t see why that would be necessary.” She said, crossing her arms,

“Well you might be staying here for a little while, you might feel more comfortable that way.” He insisted,

“I would feel more comfortable back at my actual house.” She stated,

“I know, but it's a crime scene right now,” He sighed, looking at her with pity in his eyes; making her want to puke, “I wish we could figure something else out but we haven’t been able to contact anyone else in your family. I know you and your mom have a rough relationship but-”

“I don’t want to hear it. I’m not a child Dr. Lawton. I’m not going to go and cry because I’m stuck with my mother,” She glared, “But that doesn’t mean I’m just going to un-pact and pretend to be some happy family.”

“I understand, I didn’t mean to pressure you,” He apologized, “I’m sure this hasn’t been easy, you don’t have to do anything that would make it harder for you.”

“Of course not,” She stated, “But this hasn’t been necessary hard, just annoying.”

“I see, and among the annoying things that includes your mother's requests of you seeing a doctor” He asked,

“My father took me to see one recently, I don’t see the point.” She replied,

“It’s just we haven’t been able to acquire the doctor's records.” He asked,

“How is that my problem?” She glared,

“We just want to make sure you are in good health Azula,” He said, smiling at her. She watched as he wrote something down in his notebook, “I don’t think there's anything else I have to ask for now, do you have any questions for me?”

“Yes actually, I was wondering if anything was found out about my father.” She asked, 

“Ah well- I suppose your mother hasn’t told you anything if you’re asking.” He sighed,

“Why would she,” Azula rolled her eyes,

“I’m sure she just wants to protect you,” He assured, but Azula wasnt believing any of it, “Nothing was found at your house, but all signs are pointing to him leaving the county. I’m sorry Azula.”

“No need for apologies,” She stated, “Thank you Doctor, that's all then,” 

Azula nodded to him as she got up. She tried to remain as calm as possible as she walked up the stairs. She could hear Dr. Lawton say something to Zuko before he left. Her walk turned into a sprint as she reached the hallway. Azula slammed her door, much harder than she had ment too. 

How could they think Ozai left the country, he wouldn’t leave without her. She was quickly finding it hard to breathe; she needed to calm down. They have no proof; no evidence; it was a guess. Azula took deep breaths as she sat against her wall. Why was she getting so upset? She had always been in control of herself, but lately it has gotten increasingly more difficult. Maybe her father was testing her? To see if she could find him herself? 

Her head rested against the wall. Ursa knew about this news and hadn’t even bothered to tell her. Of course she wouldn’t tell her! It's not like Ursa cared how her daughter was doing. 

She could hear someone slowly come up the stairs. Azula wrapped her arms around her legs; hoping they would just go away. She didn’t need to be “checked on''. Her breath held deep in her stomach as she heard them stop at her door; her heart pounding in her chest. They stood there for a while; pacing back at forth. A sigh escaped their lips and Azula's chest fell as she heard them walk away from her door. 

They didn’t sound like Zuko.

\-------------------------

It was sunny; warm; it felt good. Azula was sitting on the bleachers watching Ty Lee and Mai practice. They did cheerleading everyday afterschool, Azula had decided that waiting for them everyday was better than riding home with Zuko.

Ty Lee was now the cheer captain, apparently after Suki transferred schools the honor was placed on her. She was glad to be honest, that Suki wasn’t here. Azula had been cheer captain in middle school; Suki always tried to take her place, she said Azula was too “strict” to be captain. They couldn’t stand each other, which made them easy rivals. 

She shook her head and snuck away from her friends practice; making sure they were too busy to notice. Azula strolled over to the other side of the football field. It was almost halfway through the week and she still hadn’t been able to interrogate Chan. She had tried to ask Ty Lee questions but it only made her look more suspicious.

Azula waited in the dark until Chan’s friends left him alone; he seemed to be waiting for someone; she didn't have much time. Azula slowly snuck up behind him; not making a sound,

“Hello Chan.” She smirked, making him jump,

“Jesus Azula!” He glared, “What the hell is wrong with you!”

“Y’know the usual” She snickered, 

“What do you want?” He said, clearly irritated, “You want me to stay away from your little cheer friend or something? I thought you were “too good” for jealousy.”

“Don’t be disgusting,” She interrupted, shaking her head, “What do you know about my father?”

“Wait- you’re asking for my help?” He chuckled, “You almost paralized me, you crazy bitch!”

“You’re being dramatic,” She rolled her eyes,

“I just can’t believe it! Why do you even need my help?” He pondered for a second before smirking, “No way, little miss perfect got kicked out of the family? Didn’t you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,”

“Then why do you need my help? Hell! Why are you even here?” He glared, “Azulon didn’t come to pick you up?”

“Don’t act like you know anything! You were to weak and stupid for your father to even look at you!” She glared right back; that pissed him off. His face contorted into pure rage for just a second before completely transforming into something scarily sweet,

“Lee Bear!” He said, making Azula throw up in her mouth. His voice sounded so fake it hurt, but it seemed good enough to fool her naive friend,

"If you hurt her, I will paralyze you. Don’t forget that." She whispered to him as Ty Lee ran up to her,

"There you are Azula!" Ty Lee smiled, "and Chan?"

"Zula and I were just catching him!" He said, in his most convincing voice, wrapping his arm around Azula's shoulders,

"Don't you ever call me that!" Azula said, shoving him off. How dare he be so bold. Azula turned from him and saw Mai in the distances becoming for her two friends,

“So are we hanging out today Lee bear?” He smirked, pulling her friend into a hug. Azula could swear she saw his hand move down too his ass before Ty Lee pushed him away,

“Sorry Chan! I have plans with my girls, but I’ll see you this weekend,” Ty Lee assured; smiling,

“Speaking of which, lets go.” Azula said, grabbing Ty Lee’s arm and pulling her towards Mai before Chan could get another word out. She watched her friend wave to Chan as they made their way to the parking lot. What Ty Lee saw in that dipshit Azula may never know. They had almost made it to Mai’s car before Ty Lee ran toward the last two people Azula wanted to see today.

"Hi guys!" The girl waved as she ran toward Katara, and Sokka, "Did your activities just end too?"

Azula could hear them talk from a distance, as she quickly got into Mai’s convertible.

"Hey Ty Lee! Hurry the hell up!" Azula yelled, "We will leave without you!"

She could hear Mai chuckle as Ty Lee ignored her, cheerfully talking to the siblings. Her eyes widened as Sokka looked over to them, and she quickly ducked down,

"Why are you hiding?" Mai asked confused, raising her eyebrow in confusion, 

"I'm not," Azula lied, she didn't even know herself, 

"You haven’t made up with him yet?," Mai asked, 

"What are you talking about," Azula sighed,

"Don’t play dumb, I know you want too," Mai said, leaving Azula with nothing to say, "I won't make you admit it, don't worry."

"I can't be worried about that kind of thing anyway," Azula sighed, "Waste of time."

Ty Lee came crashing back into the car before Mai could reply,

“I hope it's fine but I invited them to get food with us!” Ty Lee smiled,

“Of course you did.” Mai sighed,

“They're what now?!” Azula said, as Ty Lee beckoned her reluctant friends towards the car, “Ty Lee what the hell is wrong with you!”

“You both can be so boring!” Ty Lee frowned, “The more the merrier!”

“You would say that, I thought you were content with just Azula.” Mai sighed,

“Apparently not,” Azula rolled her eyes; crossing her arms,

“We don’t have to come Ty Lee, let’s just hang out another time!” Katara pleaded,

“Don’t be silly! We haven’t all hung out in so long!” Ty Lee smiled, practically pushing the siblings into the backseat. Azula let out a small chuckle towards their sour expressions,

“Ty Lee where are we going?” Mai asked, tapping her finger on her steering wheel. Ty Lee sat and pondered for a while, staring off into the sky,

“Hurry up and decide!” Azula insisted,

“That one place with those really good burgers and the giant sundaes!” Ty Lee Finally blurted out. Azula could have sworn she saw her eyes sparkle. Mai only nodded in response, finally starting the car. Ty Lee was quick to talk to Katara, asking her all sorts of questions about the swim team. Sokka was leaning against the door, staring out the window. Ty Lee tried to invite him into the conversation but he was not interested, why did he even come?

“Azula!” Ty Lee said, leaning over to the front seat, “I meant to ask earlier, but why were you talking to Chan?”

“Why does it matter?” She sighed in response,

“Well it’s just he mentioned something about you liking him befor-” Ty Lee started, making both Sokka and Azula turn to her; now he was interested,

“Don’t make me sick!” She responded,

“It’s just!- you were asking questions about hi-” Ty Lee started, 

“I have never, nor will I ever, liked Chan,” Azula assured, interrupting her friend who just sat back in her seat defeated,

“Yeah imagine ice queen over here having a crush on someone,” Sokka chuckled, making Azula glare at him, “What? Like you’d ever like someone.”

Azula just turned away from him; crossing her arms. She didn’t want to prove him wrong, that would be ten times worse than just letting him think he was right. She could hear Katara and Ty Lee return to their conversation as Mai pulled into the parking lot. Mai didn’t say anything as she parked the car, all she did was nod before stepping out and walking towards the restaurant. Azula followed her inside with the others staggering behind them; still talking. 

They found their way to their table. Mai, Ty Lee, and Azula sat on one side; Katara and Sokka on the other. Azula and Mai were still silent as Ty Lee and Katara chatted on, I guess they had become much closer than she thought after she left. It made sense, she supposed. Azula leaned against the booth, maybe this would have been fun with just Mai and Ty Lee, but she didn’t know how to act around the other two. Her interactions with Sokka continued to be a jumbled mess, and Katara clearly still wanted to rip her throat out. It was better for her to just be quiet. 

“Can I have the jumbo sundae with a side of fries!” Ty Lee beamed at the waitress,

“Are you not going to eat real food?” Mai sighed,

“I’ll eat when I get home!” Ty Lee pouted at her friend, “Moms making dinner anyway!”

Azula caught Katara glaring at her as Mai and Ty Lee bickered, but she turned away once she realized Azula had her eyes on her. How irritating; reminded her of why they fought so much as kids. Sokka and Zuko would always have to break them up. That's part of the reason Sokka and her ended up hanging out alone a lot, they would usually go play games in his room after she had calmed down. She found her eyes on Sokka and quickly looked back to Ty Lee. Why couldn’t she just stop thinking about him?

The waitress set all their food in front of them. Azula watched her small friend dive into her sundae. A deep breath escaped her breath as she ate her salad, why did Sokka and Katara even agree to come here in the first place? 

Stop thinking about it Azula.

Sure Ty Lee is convincing but, they knew Azula would be here, did they not care?

Stop thinking about it Azula.

Katara probably was here due to her closeness with Ty Lee; they probably hung out like this all the time.

I said stop thinking about it.

But Sokka? He was barely even joking around, why was he here? 

Azula! 

Maybe he wanted to see her?

Stop this instant!

Her back straightened as her father's voice rang through her ears. She could feel Ozai’s breathing down her neck; eyes watching her every move. Her teeth sunk into her lip as her heart pounded in her chest.

He was right. He is right, as always. She repeated to herself. No one seemed to notice her slight change in behavior, or the fact she didn’t say anything until they dropped her off at home. Ursa didn’t say anything when Azula walked by her, why would she? Why would anyone notice? It’s good they couldn’t tell, they would just ask questions. 

Azula stopped in front of her mirror; dropping her bag to her side, staring at herself. her body still cloaked in the darkness of her room. Her breathing slowed as she looked over herself,

“Perfect”


	5. Chapter 5

“Morning Sokka!” Mr. Everett greeted him kindly as Sokka walked into the classroom, handing him a piece of paper, “I was able to grade last week's tests! Good job!”

"Oh, thank you!" Sokka nodded, looking at his test and smiling to himself. He got an A-, it might not be a perfect score, but he knew he would just do better next time.

Sokka looked over the class, usually he was the first one there but lately a familiar raven haired girl had been stealing that from him. She sat alone at her desk, pencils perfectly aligned to her paper; head leaning into her hand. She didn’t move to look up to him,

"You're here early," he muttered, wondering how she was even able to consistently get there so early every morning. Maybe Mai was much more of an early riser than he gave her credit for, or maybe Azula had demanded they all arrive early just to piss him off,

"More like you're late," Azula taunted as she looked down at his test, "Yikes."

“What do you mean yikes!” He said, ripping his test from her eyes, “Like you could do better-”

He was quickly interrupted by Azula shoving her test in his face, of course she would have a perfect score, “Let me know if you need a tutor, I hear this class can be hard for the small minded.”

“Not sure how you got in then, considering the only thing your mind knows how to do is please your father,” Sokka rolled his eyes, shoving her paper out of his face. He watched her grit her teeth in anger as she glared at him, 

“Is that all you got?” She snarled, “Whenever you lose an argument you pull out the dad card. I thought you were better than that Sokka?”

“Not my fault you’re a daddy’s girl.” He snickered, shaking his head, “Maybe if you loosened up a lil Zula, you wouldn’t be so easy to mess with.”

“Whatever you say loser,” She sighed, placing her test neatly into her backpack. It wasn’t long before the bell rang and the rest of the class had placed themselves in their seats,

“Good morning everyone!” Mr. Everett greeted happily, “You all did so well on last week's tests I’ve decided to pull back on the homework for this week!”

All the other students were quick to rejoice, but Azula didn’t move an inch. She just sat there perfecting her lesson notes, and he could admit it, he was a bit jealous of her handwriting; his notes never looked so nice.

Azula didn’t say anything else to him for the rest of the class, he didn’t want to admit that he wished she would. He missed messing with her and hanging out with her all the time. He would never say that to her face of course. If he told her he was sure she would laugh at him, before reminding him that they were never friends. 

When the bell rang Azula was the first to rush out of the classroom. The hallways were already crowded but she surfed through them easily. Sokka tried to keep up with her but she was already gone, leaving him behind with only the whispers of the students around him,

“I heard the new girl used to live here, but had to move because she was expelled for putting someone in the hospital!” Someone whispered,

“I heard Azula will hit any guy that dares to even look at her!” Someone responded,

“Really? Cause I heard she's head over heels for Chan!” 

“Wait seriously? Isn’t Ty Lee dating him?”

“Yeah and she's best friends with Azula too!”

“I wonder how their friendship will hold up after Ty Lee’s date with Chan!”

Sokka rubbed his forehead as he picked up the pace. He could feel his blood boil even though he knew none of that was true. Where did they even hear those things anyway? He could see the first one; she never had been good with people; usually was too violent, but why would anyone think that she liked Chan? Unless Chan had told them that, seemed like something he’d do. Fucking prick.

He had been friends with Ty Lee almost as long as she had been friends with Azula. They weren’t as close but he thought he knew her well enough to not peg her as the type of girl to date Chan. Chan was commonly known as a womenizer, just took girls out to have sex with them before leaving them in the dirt. Sure Ty Lee liked dating around but she never really slept with people, at least not to his knowledge.

One thing is for sure, if Chan was using her, he would get what's coming to him.

He could tell that Azula was pissed when he walked into the classroom. She was staring down at the papers on her desk ;organizing them; keeping them all in perfect stacks. It made him remember when they were kids, she would always insist on organizing his room whenever she came over while parents were fighting. 

Their classmates were clearly trying their best to avoid looking at her, they did not want to be the target of her anger,

“You okay?” He asked as he sat next to her,

“I’m fine,” She said gritting her teeth. 

Sokka sighed in response, if there was one thing about Azula that might never change, it was her pride.

\-------------------------

Azula had been dragged to lunch by her small friend, who insisted that they needed to eat with Chan and the rest of the football team. Ty Lee wanted to merge their friend groups so they could all sit together, but it was clear Mai and Azula wanted no part in it. 

Ty Lee hadn’t even gone on one date with Chan and was basically ready to marry herself to him, it was giving Azula a headache. Could Ty Lee not hear all the shit spewing from Chan's mouth? The whole school was gossiping about it! Mai tried to talk sense into her before school started. Insisting that Chan was only using her, and that he was nothing but a fake. All Ty Lee did was insist that Chan was no longer a womanizer and that he had “changed”. 

So now here they were, picking away at their food as their smiley friend chatted away with Chan and his friends. Mai was leaning her head on her hand as she looked at her phone in boredom while Azula was considering whether or not this was worse than sitting with Zuko and her ex friends.

Most of the people at the table were too scared to even look their way, but sadly one of them wasn’t as smart,

“So Mai,” Ruon-Jian said as he slid his chair closer to her, “How are you?” 

“Worse now that you’re talking to me,” Mai sighed refusing to look up from her phone. Azula snickered as she took a bite from her sandwich,

“Ah no need to be so mean Mai!” He chuckled, wrapping his arm over her shoulders; pulling her close to him, “There are much better ways to show your affection.” 

“There are but you don't deserve them,” Mai said, shoving him off of her, making him topple out of his chair and onto the ground. The people around them quickly stopped talking and turned to the boy was sitting now on the floor,

“I’ve always loved girls who play hard to get,” He said as he pushed his hair back; starting to push himself up, but before he could a foot shoved him back to the ground; digging deep into his chest,

“Don’t even think about it,” Azula glared, watching him squirm under her foot. Mai seemed pleased but Azula couldn’t say the same thing for the rest of the table,

“Get off of me bitch!” Ruon-Jian snarled,

“Aw what’s wrong? Can’t take it rough,” She smirked, kicking him hard in his side before stepping away from him. He was coughing on the floor before Chan came over to help his friend up. Chan glared at her, clearly trying to find something to say, but was interrupted by the teacher quickly running up to them,

“What’s going on here?” Mr. Everett said as he walked between them,

“Nothing Sir,” Azula lied, “Ruon-Jian just slipped on his own ego, but I’m sure he will make a speedy recovery.” She could almost swear she heard Sokka’s distinct laughter from a few tables away. It almost made her smile,

“It’s true,” Mai insisted before either of the boys could respond, “He knocked the wind out from himself, it was quite odd” 

“Right,” Mr. Everett said, narrowing his eyes; looking back and forth between the girls and boys. Mai was quick to nudge Ty Lee's shoulder before he could say anything else,

“Yes! He honestly just fell onto his chair!” Ty Lee spirited out,

“Onto his chair?” Mr. Everett questioned,

“She means out of,” Azula insisted, wrapping her arm around Ty Lee, “Forgive her she tends to get tongue tied.”

Ty Lee pouted at Azula, clearly upset about the whole situation, but Azula just shrugged in response. Chan was staring daggers at the girls while his friend was leaning against him, trying to catch his breath. The teacher sighed and shook his head as he walked over toward to injured teen,

“We should probably bring you to see the nurse, okay Ruon-Jian?” Mr. Everett said, trying to sound sure of himself, he clearly wasn’t sure what to do in this situation. Ruon-Jian only nodded in response; he was still fuming but was in no position to argue, “Chan would you mind helping him there?”

“Of course,” Chan gritted through his teeth. The teacher led them away, leaving the girls alone,

“Azula! What the hell were you thinking!” Ty Lee said, “You could’ve gotten in huge trouble!”

“That guy is a creep, he deserved it.” Mai insisted, “I know Chan is your boyfriend now or whatever, but I am not sitting with them at lunch.”

“Me neither, I’d rather sit with Zuko and the loser gang over there, than sit with these assholes.” Azula sighed, “Seriously Ty Lee, what do you see in him?”

“He's nice to me! You wouldn’t understand!” She pouted in response, marching away from them. Azula and Mai gave each other a look before sighing and packing up their bags,

“If he hurts her-,” Mai started,

“I got it covered, don’t worry .” Azula stated, walking away from her friend. 

The rest of the day they were unable to find Ty Lee anywhere. She even ignored them at cheer practice and quickly left with Chan when she got the chance; not saying a word to either of them. 

Mai still drove her home, both of them were silent but Azula knew they were both worrying about their friend. Father might shun her for that but she didn’t care. It’s not like he would be too mad if she ended up beating the crap out of Chan anyway; he might even be proud of her.

Azula could see Ursa waiting for her on the sidewalk. Her arms were crossed; foot tapping on the concrete, 

“Damnit,” Azula whispered under her breath,

“Want me to stay?” Mai asked,

“Don’t bother, I’ll be fine,” Azula insisted, stepping out of the car, “See you tomorrow.”

Azula shut the car door and waited for Mai to drive away before she turned toward her mother,

“Azula,” Her mother said sternly, “Any idea why I got a call from Ruon-Jian’s mother today?”

“Who?” Azula lied, quickly trying to walk past her before the conversation progressed further. Sadly she was stopped suddenly by Ursa grabbing her arm and pulling her back,

“Don’t lie to me!” Ursa said, “She said you pushed him onto the floor and kicked him until he was unable to breath!”

“That’s an over exaggeration,” Azula sighed, yanking her arm away from her mother, 

“But you did hurt him didn’t you?!” Ursa questioned, raising her voice,

“I think he did more damage to his pride than I could ever do to him,” Azula snickered,

“This isn’t funny young lady!” Ursa yelled, “I better not hear about you hurting anyone else! Or-”

“Or what?” Azula sighed, “It’s not like you can get rid of me.”

Ursa stood there speechless, staring down at her daughter, “Azula I don’t-”

“Save it,” Azula said, walking away from her mother into the house. Ursa was frozen outside as the door slammed in front of her,

“Azula?” Her brother questioned as she kicked off her shoes. She ignored him, pushing past him to run up the stairs and into her room. Azula looked out her window as she placed her bag away in her closet, it was still bright outside. She could see Sokka in his room looking towards her, their eyes locked for a second before she quickly shut the curtain; blocking the light from her room. 

At the very least Ursa wouldn’t bother her for the rest of the night, maybe she would actually find a way to get rid of her, wouldn’t that be a treat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to update more frequently! I've just been really stressed lately and haven't found the time to write. Sorry!


	6. Chapter 6

The sky was black. Roots forcing her legs against the moist ground. Azula’s vision was slowly returning. A young child stood in front of her; raven hair framing the girl’s smirking face. Azula’s arms shook as the roots started to crawl up her arms. She tried to reach out to the young girl as she walked closer, but she couldn’t budge,

"It’s okay," the girl smiled, touching Azula's cheek. Her hands were wet. They smelled of metal. A small handprint stained Azula’s face as the girl pulled her hand away, “He would be proud."

Azula tried to respond to the girl before she was lost to the darkness, but roots crawled down her throat, only allowing a whimper to escape. The roots tightened around her body. Dragging her into the dirt; burying her alone in darkness. 

"Daddy?" She could hear the girl call in the distance. Her voice shook as she spoke. Azula thrashed around trying to escape from the roots that surrounded her. Tears streaming down her cheeks. She couldn’t see anything; hear anyone; no one was going to help her. Azula took a deep breath, accepting her fate. She opened her eyes, finding herself safe in bed.

She was still in her room. No forest. No roots. No little girls.

It was nothing but another nightmare, she thought. Great.

They still came to her every night. The same thing, shown in different ways. 

She hung her head in her hands as she wiped the tears from her eyes. It was pathetic that she would be crying over something so ridiculous. Her hands combed through her long hair as she got up. Azula looked at herself in the mirror, her eyes were red and puffy; what a mess. Azula grabbed her brush from her desk and slowly ridded the knots from her hair,

“So long and annoying,” Azula sighed, looking away from herself and out her window. It was barely light outside, she would have to goto school soon. Azula had spent the weekend trying to get a hold of her small friend. Ty Lee hadn’t talked to Mai or her since the last time they spoke at school. Ty Lee didn’t usually hold grudges. She never could resist messaging them after a date. Ty Lee would always spam them with texts, making sure they knew every last detail of what happened. Instead she sent nothing. Regrettably Azula could admit she was very worried something horrible had happened to her. Mai had tried to go over to her house on sunday but Ty Lee’s demon sisters refused to let her in. Pretending they didn’t know she existed.

Azula put her hair up into a topknot, making sure the part was perfectly centered; bangs framing her face. She sighed, it was perfect of course. Normally she would be happy, but it just felt empty. She stared at herself in the mirror, double checking no hair was out of place before ripping out her hair ties and letting her hair fall to her shoulders again. Azula looked at herself through the cracks in her hair. She could see a shadow looming over her reflection in the mirror. Staring down to her,

“What a mess,” A dark voice whispered in her ear, causing her to rapidly turn around. Nothing was there, no shadow, no one. She was alone in her room. Slowly she turned back to the mirror only to find herself,

“Azula! Mai is here!” She could hear Ursa call from downstairs. Azula quickly shook her head and pulled her hair back into her topknot. She changed into jeans and a t-shirt. Quickly throwing on her jacket as she picked up her backpack and ran downstairs. Ursa tried to say something before she left, but Azula rushed by her. She didn’t even give her the chance to open her mouth.

“Took you long enough,” Mai complained as she propped the door open for her,

“You’re usually here later,” Azula said, excusing herself as she climbed into the car,

“You’re usually up before the sun, I thought you’d be ready” Mai said, 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Azula sighed. Things were silent for a minute before Mai turned to her friend,

“I went to pick up Ty Lee but her parents said she isn’t feeling well.” Mai said in a move somber tone,

“Something must have happened,” Azula stated, crossing her arms over her chest,

“Obviously,” Mai rolled her eyes, “If she doesn’t text us back by the end of second period, I’m going to her house and making sure she's okay.”

“Need help?” Azula asked,

“Maybe when I get back,” Mai smirked, finally starting the car. They didn’t say anything else to each other during the ride. Azula kept finding herself spacing out, watching the houses, and the other passing cars. She ended up staring at herself in the rearview mirror. She sighed, still not satisfied with how her hair turned out. Something was off she could feel it, if only she could just figure it out,

“Azula?” Mai said, snapping her out of her thoughts. She hadn’t even noticed they had arrived at school. She turned to her friend, who was looking at her with slightly concerned eyes,

“I’ll see you later,” Azula sighed, climbing out of the car before Mai could say anything else. The halls much like the parking lot were completely empty. Some of the classroom doors were opened, showing different teachers preparing for their morning classes. It was honestly annoying getting to school so early, but she hated the idea of getting to class after Sokka. Maybe she was being a little bit of a child but she found it funny the way his face looked when he would walk in to realize someone else beat him to class. He acted like it didn’t bother him even though it very clearly did. He was never a very good liar. It was kind of cute.

Cute? She thought, stopping dead in the middle of the hallway. She was being ridiculous again. Azula shook her head as she continued to her classroom. Mr. Everett jumped slightly as she walked into the room,

“I-i wasn’t expecting you this early!” He smiled, waving at her from his desk, “Good Morning!”

“Good Morning Mr. Everett. Apologies for the inconvenience. My ride dropped me off earlier than expected today,” She said, sitting quietly down in her seat, 

“It’s no trouble! Feel free to come in whenever you like,” He insisted before returning to grading papers, 

They sat in silence as they waited for the rest of the classmates to show up. Azula stared at the clock, it was 7:45, Sokka could be here any second now. She tapped her pencil on the table as time slowly passed by. She let her mind wander, thinking of Ty Lee. What if she was hurt and her parents hadn’t even bothered to notice? Almost right on que her old friend slid into the classroom, snapping her from her thoughts. He was slightly hunched over, out of breath,

“Goddamnit,” She heard him mumble as he looked at her, “How early do you get here women!” 

“I don’t see how that's your business Sokka,” She smirked, tapping her finger to her chin, “Not my fault you’re late.”

Sokka glared at her in response. He was quick to greet their teacher before plopping down next to her,

“One of these days Azula, one of these days,” Sokka signed,

“You’ll what? Finally beat me at something?” She taunted, “That seems very unlikely,” 

“But not impossible!” He said, determination gleaming from his eyes, “You’ll see,”

“Sure I will,” She nodded, 

“And when I do, you will finally admit we were best friends,” Sokka smirked, “and you liked it!”

“Hard to admit something that's not true,” She said, looking down at her books. She could see his face fall into a glare from the corner of her eye. He looked away from her, mumbling to himself. She could tell what she said hurt him. Regret pooled in the back of her throat, but she swallowed it, refusing to give in. There was no point, she reminded herself. 

No point.

“The fact that you even consider it is humiliating,” A voice crept behind her, sending goosebumps down her back. She quickly turned around but the only thing behind her was an empty desk. She had to be imagining things. Clearly it was because of these stupid nightmares, pleaging her mind. Azula took a deep breath.

She wasn’t crazy.

Once father was back everything would be fine. Everything would go back to normal, he would know what to do. He always did.

The school day was as boring as usual, especially now that Sokka refused to engage in their usual friendly banter. Ty Lee still hadn’t replied, Mai was most likely at her house right now, sneaking in through her windows regardless of what Ty Lee’s parents said. 

Azula walked through the hallways, listening to the groups of kids talking around her. Almost every group mentioned Ty Lee,

“I heard Ty Lee is skipping school because it didn’t work out with Chan.” Someone said, making Azula stop in her place next to him,

“What? I heard from Chan's friends they went all the way?” The girl next to them added,

“Seriously? I thought she was better than that.” They replied, making Azula’s blood boil,

“I heard spreading rumors ensures you will end up alone for the rest of your life,” Azula finally said, causing them to all jump in surprise. Clearly they didn’t notice her standing there, “Best you learn when to shut up, yeah?” 

They all looked at her for a second in shock. Unable to move they just nodded in their place,

“S-sorry!” One of them finally managed before they all scattered away from her. Azula sighed as she continued to her next class. People around her started to give her weird looks as they whispered back to their friends. How annoying.

Mai wasn’t back by lunch. Azula found herself standing in the lunch room alone. Chan and his friends were luckily not in attendance. While she did want to beat the crap out of him for possibly hurting her friend, or at the very least spreading rumors about hooking up with her. She knew it would be better to wait for Mai to get back with more information.

Azula bit her lip as she looked over to where the loser gang was currently sitting. They were all laughing and smiling. She bit down on her cheek. Of course she could go over there and demand to sit down, but it would just be awkward. She couldn’t fit in with them anymore, even if she tried,

“Why would you even want to,” A voice whispered in her ear, she didn’t bother to turn this time. She just shook her head before looking back to the loser table. Zuko locked eyes with her before she could look away. She tried to turn around and escape but before she could he was already making his way next to her,

“Hey…” He said awkwardly, “Where are Mai and Ty Lee? I haven’t seen them all day.”

“Thinking of trying to flirt with Mai again Zuzu?” She signed, looking at her nails, refusing to look up to him, “Grow a pair and ask her out already,”

“What! No!” He defended, face quickly turning red, “I was just worried. People are saying some awful shit and I haven’t seen either of them all day.”

Azula sighed, finally making eye contact with her older brother, “Mai went to go check on Ty Lee, she hasn’t messaged us in days. She didn’t even show up to school today!” 

“Is she okay?” He asked. She could see the concern in his eyes, he was always so empathetic,

“I don’t know, idiot!” Azula retorted, “Do you think Mai would skip school and risk her parents' wrath if we knew she was fine!”

“Jez, Okay sorry! I wasn’t trying to be- I don’t know,” He sighed, making Azula give him a questionable look, “I was going to ask if you wanted to come sit with us, even though I’m sure that's a no”

Azula looked back over to his table, everyone was still talking to each other, but she could see Sokka’s eyes on her. She clenched her fist and sighed, trying not to seem so defeated, “Hard no, obviously.”

“Azula wait-.” Zuko started,

“See you later Zuzu,” She cut him off, walking back into the hallway. A few people were lingering about, but no one bothered her as she made her way to Mr. Everett's classroom. Hopefully he wouldn’t mind her eating lunch there. He was sitting at his desk, typing something onto his computer. He clearly hadn’t noticed she was standing there,

“Mr. Everett,” She said, making him jump. She should really work on not scaring him everytime she enters his classroom,

“Azula! Hello! Sorry I wasn’t expecting you,” He coughed,

“Sorry for the interruption. I was wondering if I could eat lunch in here, I won't be a bother I promise,” She asked,

“Oh- uh I suppose that’s fine!” He smiled, “I actually would enjoy the company!” 

“Thank you,” Azula nodded before taking a seat. While they didn’t talk as she ate, it was still nice. It helped her feel less alone. Not that it mattered. At the very least she didn’t need to sit next to Chan, or Sokka for that matter. At this point she didn’t know what was worse.

The time ticked by. She spent most of her class time spacing out, barely remembering anything the teachers said.

It wasn’t until the end of last period when Mai finally came back. She was never one to rush but she found herself running through the halls trying to find Azula. She found her friend placing her books neatly in her locker. Mai didn’t wait to be noticed instead she slammed Azula’s locker in her face,

"Hey! What the hell- Mai?" Azula said, turning toward her friend. She was shocked to see Mai so enraged, "What took you so long?"

"Is that really what's important," Mai snapped, "Look Ty Lee told me everything. After their date Chan forced himself on her! Pinned her in the back of his car and put his hands all over her! Luckily she was able to run away but-”

Azula didn’t let Mai finish. Instead she slammed her backpack into Mai's arms. Quickly making her way towards the parking lot.. There wasn't football practice today, she had to be quick before Chan left. She wanted to be surprised, but she wasn’t. Chan had never been one to accept no for an answer. His father was the same way, so cocky and arrogant.

Mai was quick to follow behind her friend as she busted through the doors leading to the parking lot. She spotted Chan. He was sitting on the hood of his car across the parking lot, surrounded by a few of his friends. Mai could tell Azula saw him too, she had picked up her pace, not caring who was in her way. Zuko was unluckily talking with Sokka when Azula slammed into his shoulder. She kept moving regardless, it was like she didn’t even notice it happened,

"Hey- Azula! What the hell!" Zuko said starting his way toward her,

"Don't," Mai said, putting her arm out in front of him. She shoved Azula's backpack into Zuko's arms,

"What the hell is going on?" Zuko insisted, looking back and forth from his sister to Mai,

"Payback," Mai put blankly as she watched Azula march up to Chan’s car, alerting him and his friends,

"What do you mean payback? You don’t mean Azula’s going to try to fight them? They’ll kill her-" Sokka insisted trying to follow after her,

"I wouldn't worry about it," She stated, grabbing his arm and pulling him back, "Now shut up and stay put."

Azula stood in the middle of Chan and his two friends. She recognized both of them from the football team. The one behind her had longer hair that fell on their shoulders. The one that stood to her side didn’t seem to have hair at all,

“Damn you were right! She is obsessed with you.” The bald boy chuckled, walking closer to her,

“You thought I was lying?” Chan chuckled nervously as he slid off of his car. He walked up to Azula, towering over her, “So… What’s up Zula?”

“Ty Lee’s not here today.” She glared up to him, making him take a step back, “You know anything about that?”

“No idea! Maybe she was having trouble walking?” He smirked, looking to his friends who chuckled in response. He placed a hand on Azula’s shoulder, looking her in the eyes, “We did have a lot of fun on our date. Not that you would understand.”

“I think Ty Lee would disagree,” Azula said, narrowing her eyes on him. She could feel the rage in her stomach growing,

“Please Zula! I didn’t do anything she didn’t want-” Chan started to say, his classic smirk still plastered to his face. He was quickly cut off by Azula slamming her fist straight into his cheek. Making him lose balance and topple over onto the ground. 

“Good. He needs to pay for such disrespect.” She could hear the voice whisper again as she stood over Chan. She watched his hand slowly reached to his cheek as blood dripped from the corner of his mouth,

“You bitch,” Chan finally spat out. He pushed himself off the ground, immediately lunging towards her as soon as he reganded balance. Azula was quick to step out of the way. She waited for him to pass by her before she slammed her elbow directly into his back. Chan made a loud groan as he fell back to the floor. His two friends finally decided to react. The bald one attempted to swing his fist in her side. Azula quickly grabbed his arm before he could hit her. She twisted it until tears dripped from the corners of his eyes. Chan’s long haired friend tried to come up from behind her. Azula however was much faster, and quickly gripped harder on the bald boys wrist, throwing him into his friend. Both of the boys skid against the concrete floor. She saw the long haired one try to get up. Before he could she slammed her foot onto his back. Pushing him deeper into the ground, making him scream in pain. 

Meanwhile Chan had been attempting to crawl away and abandon his poor friends. Azula turned and walked back over to him, grabbing his collar and slamming him against his own car,

“You- cr-azy-,” He started, quivering under her, “You’re worse than your father!”

“Thank you,” Azula smirked, slamming her fist back into his face, making him groan and whimper in pain. She found her reflection in the car window. The dark figured was behind her, surrounding her vision with darkness,

“He deserves to die for his arrogance,” The voice sounded so familiar. She raised her fist and slammed it into Chan’s face. Over, and over, and over again. She didn’t care about the screams from the people around her, or the fact that several students had run to get teachers. Chan had failed to take her warning seriously. The voice were right, he needed to pay. 

The figure behind her came closer. They were smirking as they placed their hand on her left shoulder, “Excellent work Azula,”

She let go of Chan’s collar, watching him fall to the floor. His face was bruised, covered in blood. She turned to where the figure had been, but they weren't there. Her smirk faded as words echoed through her ears, “I’m so proud of you”

She looked back down to Chan, he was whimpering on the floor. Blood pooling out of his mouth,

“I-m sorry, please st-top-” He trembled, “Y-ou win.”

Azula looked down at her hands, they were stained with red. Her arms were shaking as she tried to look back to where Mai had been standing. Instead of her friend she found darkness. The cars around her turned to trees. The air was infested with fog. She quickly looked back to where Chan was laying. Instead of Chan she found a little girl stood before her, hands covered in blood.

The girl stood over a managed corpse, staring straight at Azula. She smiled as she walked up to Azula, grabbing her hands and interlocking their fingers together. It made Azula’s body tremble, tightening her fingers around the small childs hands,

“He’s proud, we did good.” The little girl smiled staring up at her with hopeful eyes. Azula could feel tears stream down her face as the girl turned to smoke, leaving her alone in darkness. She closed her eyes covering her face with her hands and falling to the ground,

“Azula!” She heard a dark voice call out behind her, but she didn’t budge,

“Azula!” They called out again, the voice was closer this time,

“Zula! Come on!” Sokka yelled as she finally opened her eyes. His hands were on her shoulders, he was shaking her, “Jesus christ Azula!” 

She stared up at him blankly, he looked so worried. She looked around to find Mai and Zuko trying to calm down the teachers, who were screaming furiously trying to find out what happened. She looked over trying to find Chan, only to realize Sokka had moved her away from him, letting the school nurse try her best to fix his bloody face,

“What were you thinking!” He asked, shaking her attention back to him. He lifted up one of her hands. Both of her fists were bloody and bruised, she could barely move her fingers without pain surging through her hand, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” She said as confidently as she could manage, pulling her hand away from him,

“Are you really? I had to pry you off of him to stop you from killing him!” Sokka said frantically, “You were practically catotonic, its like you didn’t even understand what was happening Azula!” 

“I said I’m fine. You can stop pretending to care now.” She finally snapped, climbing up onto her feet,

“Really Azula? Do you always need to be like this?” He asked with an irritated groan, “You’re clearly not fine!”

Before she could respond to him a tall man burst through the crowd of teachers and students. He stood tall, glaring down at her,

“Azula Kouen, my office. Now.” He demanded, pointing towards the school. Azula didn’t say anything she just nodded and started to walk towards the building. Sokka attempted to reach out for her but she was quick to shrug him off, leaving him behind as she walked into the school. 

Sokka stood there staring at the pool of blood Chan had left on the ground. He would be lying if he said Azula hadn’t scared him. She looked like she had completely lost her mind, unable to tell what was really happening. 

“Why would you encourage her!” Zuko yelled to Mai, snapping Sokka to their conversation. Zuko was still holding his sisters stuff despite everything that had happened, 

“He tried to rape our best friend! He deserved it!” Mai yelled back,

“Azula could get in serious trouble for this Mai!” Zuko replied, towering over her,

“Don’t act like the caring brother now! You haven’t tried to contact her in years!” She replied, glaring at him before stomping away. Mai ran into the school building as Zuko walked down to where Sokka was still standing,

“Do you think they’ll press charges?” Sokka managed to ask, his fists clenched. Zuko didn’t respond to him, he just stared blankly on the floor. Neither of them knew what to do next. Sokka was finding it impossible to think clearly. All he could see in his head was Azula as she sat shaking on the floor repeating over and over, “He’s proud of me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for being patient if you're still following the story! I hope you enjoy the chapter :D


	7. Chapter 7

5 Years Ago

It was after dinner. The sun had almost completely set. Sokka was sitting up in his room playing video games. He was grateful his parents finally let him have a TV in his room, trying to share the living room with Katara was a nightmare. Especially when Azula would come over. They would always end up in fights over what to watch. Now they can just hang out in his room, alone, no annoying siblings. Sokka could feel his face burn up at the thought. Although his parents would probably make sure to constantly check on them, make things super awkward.

Sokka sighed, falling back onto his bed. She might not even want to hang out in his room with him. Plus Zuko would probably kill him if he found out Azula was alone in his room with him. Regardless, It still felt nice to think about it. Butterflies were swarming around his stomach when he suddenly heard a loud crash coming from the house next door. Sokka was quick to sit up on his bed. He could hear Ozai and Ursa starting to yell at each other. It wasn’t odd for them to fight, he tried to ask Azula about it once but she dodged the question,

“My decision is final! Were not going to some stupid funeral for someone who probably just ran away!” He could hear Ozai yell,

“Stupid? He was your brother's only son! It’s the least we can do to help Iroh!” Ursa yelled back,

“My brother has gone insane looking for his son. I see no point in indulging his craziness when Lu Ten is very likely alive.” Ozai stated firmly,

“He’s been missing for six years Ozai!” Ursa contered,

“And is probably very happy to be away from that old kook.” Ozai assured. Sokka couldn’t hear what Ursa said next, he didn’t really want to know. Hearing them fight was beyond unpleasant, and he didn’t even have to live with them. Sokka sighed as he picked up his controller. He hoped Azula and Zuko were okay. He tried to go back to his game and ignore the yelling when suddenly his window rattled open. Sokka quickly turned to see a young raven haired girl climbing through his window, landing inside his room,

“Az-zula!” He said, scrambling to his feet, “What the hell, How did you get-?”

“Jumped from my window to your roof, it's not rocket science,” Azula sighed as she looked around his room, “How do you live like this?”

“What do you mean?!” Sokka said, looking with her. His face was clearly flustered, “My room is perfectly clean!”

“And perfectly disorganized,” She said, walking towards his desk. It was scattered with papers. Azula was quick to start picking stuff up and put everything into its down neat pile,

“I have a system,” He assured her, walking over to her. She wouldn’t look up to him, and he could see her biting the inside of her cheek as she continued to organize his desk, “You okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” She asked, a sigh escaping her lips as she stopped what she was doing to look down at the floor,

“Ya’know,” He said, gesturing to her house where her parents were still yelling at each other, “Also you don’t usually just climb through my window-”

“So you don’t want me here?” Azula said, clenching her fists,

“W-what! No! Of course I do,” He said, his face growing red, “You can come over whenever you want,”

Sokka could see a small smile appear on her lips, it almost looked like she was blushing. Sokka walked back over to his TV. She looked at him as he grabbed his spare controller and brought it over to her, “Here,”

Azula stared at it for a second before taking it in her hands. She followed him as he sat on the floor. Azula made herself comfortable next to him, leaning her back against the side of his bed. His face grew more flustered when he realized how close they were,

“S-so uh, what should we pl-” He started to ask,

“Thanks,” Azula interrupted with a mumble. She was staring down on the controller in her hands. Her bangs were covering her face but he could tell there were tears on her cheeks,

“Anytime Zula.”

Present

It was dark in her room. The boxes filled with her things were scattered all over the floor. Azula was hugging her knees, sitting against her door, tears streaming down her cheeks. It had been hours since they got home from school but she could still feel herself shaking.

The principal had her wait in his office until both Ursa and Chan’s father showed up. She sat in front of him, trying to look as put together as she could. He had yet to say anything to her, instead he was typing away on his computer. She could feel her pulse still racing. Her mind went fuzzy as she looked down to her hands. They were still covered in Chan’s blood. The cuts and bruises on her skin had now became more visible,

“How disappointing,” The dark voice behind her trailed off. She knew no one was there, but she still turned around, hoping to see anything. Nothing was there. The principal gave her an odd look when she looked back over to him, but he still didn’t say a word,

“Right in here,” She could hear an older lady say as the door opened. Her mother frantically rushed into the office, Chan’s father following slowly behind,

“Please sit,” The principal said, gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk. Ursa sat next to Azula, while Chan’s father sat in the chair furthest from them. Ursa looked at her daughter. Azula could tell she was not happy, 

“What is this about?” Chan’s father sighed. He was clearly trying to get this over with as fast as possible,

“Is everything okay?” Ursa asked, finally turning towards the principal, 

“No, everything is not okay. After classes today Azula beat up Chan and his friends. When we found them they were covered in blood passed out in the parking lot,” The principal stated, his eyes glaring down at Azula,

“W-what!” Ursa said standing up from her chair. She was a little more shocked than Azula thought she should be, “Is he okay? Azula how could you do something so horrible!”

“The nurse is with Chan now, he might need stitches,” The principal responded, “This behavior is obviously unacceptable. I have heard rumors of your daughter engaging in violent behavior before but this is beyond what I would have expected!” 

Azula just crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. She could've done much worse, they didn’t need to be so dramatic,

“I am so sorry. Azula- she usually doesn’t act this way I swear,” Ursa pleaded, bowing her head to the principal as well as Chan’s father. Azula couldn’t help but scoff, it was so obvious her mother was lying, “Azula apologized this instant!”

“No,” Azula stated as she looked down at her nails,

“Azula this isn’t a joke! You could’ve killed Chan, don’t you understand that?” Ursa said, her voice slowly getting louder,

“I will not apologize,” Azula restated as she stood up, turning toward the principal as well as Chan’s father, “Chan deserved what he got. He did horrible things to Ty Lee. He is the reason she's not at school today-”

“Regardless. Your mother is correct. Chan and his friends are seriously injured,” The principal said, interrupting her, “and I can’t have dangerous students like that walking around. I’m afraid Azula will be facing explosion-”

“Now now- There's no need for that,” Chan’s father finally said as he stood up. She could tell he was visibly annoyed, but not with her. Azula had seen Chan and his father's relationship first hand. Chan’s father would most likely be reprimanding Chan the second they got home for him losing to Ozai’s daughter again,

“I’ve known Ozai and Azula a long time. She’s not dangerous, and she's never beat up Chan unless he deserved it.” He stated as he walking over to Azula, putting his hand on her left shoulder,

“You’ve done this before?!” Ursa whisper yelled at her daughter, only to find herself ignored,

“I’m sure she won’t do something like this again,” He assured, tightening his grip on her. His eyes moved down from the principal to her, “Besides messing with people can have grave consequences in itself, yes?”

“But sir, your son hes-” The principal started. A shocked expression stretched along his face,

“He will be fine,” Chan’s father assured, “I promise he will be back in working order before football season.”

“W-well still, Azula you still need to be punished,” The principal said, rubbing his temples, “You will be suspended for one week. But if I ever find out about you hurting someone else, consider yourself expelled.”

“Thank you! I will make sure she doesn’t do this ever again!” Ursa insisted before Azula could say anything else. Chan’s father gripped her shoulder even harder,

“Consider my payment to your father owed. Ever do this again and you will pay. He's not here to protect you anymore Azula. Consider this is your first and final warning,” He whispered in her ear before walking up to the principal, “Could someone please take me to my son now? I have to get back to work.”

“Of course sir, come with me,” The principal nodded, “I will see you on your best behavior next week Azula.”

“I wil-” Azula started before her mother yanked on her arm, interrupting her,

“She will be, don’t worry!” Ursa insisted, pulling Azula into the hallway which was now empty. Azula pulled out of her grasp the second they were out of site and walked past her mother to the parking lot, 

“Azula get back here!” Ursa yelled, running after her, “You can walk away all you want but we will be talking about this!”

“We? Don’t you mean you will go on and on while I don’t listen to you?” Azula sighed,

“I’ve had enough of you and this attitude! I know you didn’t want to move back here, and I’m sorry Ozai left you, but that doesn’t mean you get to go around beating up whoever you want!” Ursa yelled as they approached her car, 

“I do not go around beating up whoever I want!” Azula yelled back, throwing her hands into the air. She glared up to her mother, “If I did Zuzu would’ve been hurt too,”

“Get. In. The. Car,” Ursa said, glaring back at her. Azula sighed as they both climbed into Ursa’s car. There was no way she was going to be able to get out of this conversation, she knew it. Unless the car suddenly crashed, but that might be a bit too extreme to pull off,

“I just don’t understand what you were thinking!” Ursa said as she started the car and pulled out of the parking lot,

“It’s not that difficult. He hurt Ty Lee, I hurt him,” Azula sighed, “I thought even you would be able to figure that out Ursa.”

“Cut the attitude Azula! Stop treating this as a joke, what's wrong with you?!” Ursa yelled, “You almost got expelled. If it wasn’t for Chan’s father you might even have been taken from my custody!”

“Tragic,” Azula said as she looked out the window, her bruised fists tightened into little balls. She had been trying to look calm; to stay perfect. Father wouldn’t want her to crack just because her mother didn’t like her. That was old news, nothing to cry about,

“I know you understand how serious this is Azula! If you were taken out of my custody you wouldn’t have anywhere to go, you do know that right?!” Ursa yelled as she continued to drive, but Azula didn’t respond. She could hear Ursa tap her nails on the steering wheel as she drove. Waiting for her daughter to respond. It wasn’t until they finally got home Ursa had enough of it, “Azula!”

“What!” Azula finally yelled back, “What do you want me to say? That I’m so sorry! I’ll be good I promise, please don’t yell at me! Because I’m not sorry, and I don’t give two fucks if you're disappointed in me!”

“I just want you to show some type of remorse Azula!” Ursa said, 

“Why?! To prove I’m not a monster!?” Azula yelled, glaring at her mother who now sat in silence. Ursa’s eyes had gone wide as she looked at her daughter. Azula started to chuckle as Ursa didn’t give her a response, “Of course.”

“Azula wait!” Ursa said, chasing after her daughter after she got out of the car,

“What!” Azula screamed, stunning her mother, “Am I wrong?”

“I never said you were a monster Azula! I just-” Ursa pleaded,

“You didn’t have too!” Azula responded, growing more and more angry, “You know what? I’m glad I fucked up Chan’s face! He deserves it for hurting Ty Lee!”

“What did he do to deserve almost dying Azula!” Ursa questioned, making Azula pause. Maybe her mother would forgive her if she found out what actually happened. Maybe she could’ve gotten out of trouble all together, but it was clear it would probably hurt Ty Lee more if everyone found out about it. Especially if Ty Lee didn’t tell them herself,

“It’s none of your business,” Azula stated, taking a deep breath. That only made her mother more upset. They kept arguing for what felt like hours, until Zuko finally came home. He was quick to try and calm both his sister and his mother down. He even pulled Ursa aside to talk to her, giving the opportunity to escape to her room. 

Her heart was racing as she ran into her room. The sun was setting, sending her room into darkness. Azula’s thoughts span around in her head rapidly. Angry still coursed through her veins. Maybe she had gone overboard but what else was she supposed to do? Let him get away with it? She gritted her teeth slamming her fist into her neatly stacked pile of moving boxes. One of the stacks toppled over onto the floor, flooding her room with her crap. 

She chuckled looking at the mess before her, picking up another box and throwing it onto the floor. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she ripped the bedding off of her bed, sending pillows flying all over the room.

Azula laughed while she slid against her door, landing herself on the floor. Tears stained on her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around her legs, pulling them close to her chest. There was still blood covering her hands. She hadn’t taken the time to properly treat her wounds. Ursa hadn’t even asked about it. Not that she wanted her too. Just thinking of her mother pretending to care about her was sickening enough as it was.

Zuko and Ursa remained talking downstairs, most likely figuring out some way to get rid of her. Maybe they would just throw her out. Get rid of her forever. That’s what they’ve always wanted,

“You look pathetic Azula,” She could hear a voice whisper next to her, making her quiver. Azula could feel the darkness of her room close in on her. It slowly became harder and harder to see her hands in front of her face. She bit down on her lip, burying her face in her knees. She wished she would stop crying. She wished she didn’t look like a pathetic mess.

The sudden sound of something hitting her window brought her back to reality. She climbed onto her feet only to see Sokka hanging out of his own window. He quickly waved to her when he saw that she had noticed him, guestering her to open the window,

“What do you want loser,” She growled as she pushed her window open, making sure to wipe the tears from her face, 

“No need to be so rude,” He pouted,

“You’re the last person I want to talk to so spit it out!” She demanded,

“Fine fine! Calm down,” He sighed, “I just wanted to make sure you were ok- Wait! Don’t close the window!”

“I’m fine,” She stated, glaring at him as she pushed the window back up, “If that's it then this conversation is over,”

“Wait! I- uh need your help!” He said, forcing a smile to his face,

“My help?” Azula questioned,

“Yeah! You said you would tutor me- and I’m just soo confused on this homework,” He said with an exaggerated sigh,

“Uhuh,”

“Please,” He smiled, teeth and all. She stood there for a few minutes, pondering. He was worried she was going to tell him to fuck off and slam the window shut,

“Fine- I’ll help you,” She finally spit out,

“Really?” He said surprised. Azula raised her eyebrow up at him, “I mean thank you!”

“Don’t sound too excited. I’ll come over to help you later,” Azula sighed, “The usual way of course,”

“Of course,” He smirked, “See you then.”

Sokka closed his window, backing up into his room. Thank god his plan worked. He knew she couldn’t say no to making him feel stupid.   
Sokka had found Azula sitting against her door. Alone in the mess that used to be her room. She looked miserable, and after everything that happened today, he didn’t want her to be all alone. Even if she said she was “fine”. Even if he was still pissed at her. He couldn’t just leave her like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to all the nice comments! I'm not super good at responding to comments because I don't really know what to say half the time, but I am reading all of them I swear! :D


	8. Chapter 8

Blood collected around the sink as she scrubbed her hands clean. Her knuckles had turned light purple; hands riddled with small cuts. Azula removed all the dirt and blood before carefully wrapping bandages from her knuckles to her wrists. She looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. She was alone, no dark figures. Her messy hair was now fixed back into a bun. Her face had returned to being calm and collected,

“Better,” Azula sighed as she quietly stepped into the hallway. There were still murmurs coming from Zuko and her mother downstairs. It was hard to tell what they were saying but Ursa had seemingly calmed down. She heard someone get up as she slid back into her room. Azula expected to come back and see her room in shambles, just like she left it. Boxes scattered over the floor; her covers torn from her bed, but instead she saw that nothing was out of place.

Everything was perfect. Her moving boxes were still neatly stacked against the wall. They were taped shut proving they hadn’t been tampered with. Covers were tucked tightly into her bed. The floor was clear of junk,

“What-?” Azula mumbled, searching around her room. Double checking every nook and cranny. Trying to find any evidence of what had happened, “Th- this isn't-” 

She spun around trying to compose herself as she heard footsteps climb up the stairs. Maybe she had picked everything up and just didn’t remember it? It didn’t make anysense. As embarrassing as it might be to admit Azula clearly remembered ripping her room to shreds, but looked like that never happened. 

“Azula?” She heard her brother say as he knocked on the door. Azula jumped slightly, looking herself dead in the mirror, she looked tired. Maybe she had just fallen asleep against her door and dreamt it?, “Azula, can we just talk please?”

“What do you want Zuko?” Azula sighed, refusing to open her door,

“I- are you okay?” He asked. He actually sounded worried about her for once. That couldn’t be right, 

“I’m fine Zuzu,” She replied, “Go away.”

“Listen- Mom really wants you to come down to dinner,” He said, ignoring her request, “I calmed her down, she's not mad anymore. I promise.”

“So? Why would I care if mom is mad at me,” She said, biting the inside of her cheek,

“Do you have to be so complicated,” Zuko groaned. She could hear his head fall against her door, “Please? I’ll owe you one, okay?”

“Fine,” Azula sighed, finally opening her door. A smirk printed on her face, “You’re going to regret owning me you know.”

“Yeah yeah,” Zuko sighed, smiling slightly in relief to see his sister appearing to be perfectly fine despite what had happened earlier. He turned, gesturing to her to follow, as he started to make his way back downstairs, “I know.”

Azula’s smirk quickly faded as she looked over her room once more before following her brother downstairs. She knew there had to be some logical explanation.

Ursa had already set the food on the dining table by the time they arrived downstairs. She was standing over the table looking at them. It seemed she was surprised at Azula’s attendance, but she didn’t seem upset. Maybe Zuko wasn’t lying about her not being angry anymore? 

“Smells great mom,” Zuko smiled as he sat down, “Thank you.”

“You’re too sweet Zuko,” Her mother smiled back at him before glancing at her daughter, “T-thank you for joining us Azula.”

Azula didn’t respond, instead she elected to sit as far from the both of them as she could. Just because she came downstairs doesn't mean she was interested in playing fake family. 

They all sat in silence for a while. It was surprising to Azula that Ursa and Zuko didn’t partake in their normal mother son talk. Her mother usually idolized everything he did as soon as she got the chance. Instead they just ate their food quietly. Azula could feel her mother's eyes on her but she didn’t turn to return the gaze. The faster she finished her food, the faster she could excuse herself. 

“Azula,” Her mother finally said. She sounded nervous. Again Azula didn’t respond. This time however, her mother continued her thought, “I want you to know that I am still very disappointed in you, but I don’t want to fight about this anymore.”

When isn’t she disappointed in me? Azula thought. She always did something to upset her mother, even if she wasn’t trying too. She remembered when Katara and her would fight as kids. Even if Katara had been the one to start it, which she usually was, Ursa always found a way to make it Azula’s fault. That was one of the reasons her mother and father fought a lot, because of her,

“Zuko and I will be watching you carefully from now on, and you are also grounded.” Ursa finally finished, trying to sound as confident as she could,

“Grounded meaning I don’t get to leave my room?” Azula sighed sarcastically, “Tragic.”

“Grounded meaning you don’t get to get rides home from your friends anymore!” Ursa spoke up, “Zuko or I will pick you up and one of us will be watching you at home at all times! Zuko will also be watching you at school to keep you out of trouble, since you clearly can’t control yourself.”

Azula rolled her eyes, resting her head against her hand, “Is that all?”

“Yes,” Ursa nodded, “Until we can trust you, this is how things will just have to be Azula.”

“Right so, forever then?” Azula snickered, standing up from the table,

“This isn’t a joke Azula!” Ursa said, raising her voice,

“Yeah yeah whatever, I’m grounded Boo Hoo,” Azula said waving her hand in her mother's direction, “If there's nothing else I’m going to bed,” 

“When you wake up tomorrow I expect a better attitude.” Her mother insisted. Zuko continued to sit there silently, not even looking over to his sister as she walked back upstairs and into her room. 

She sighed as she fell onto her bed. So her mother demands her daughter turn into someone she's not, how surprising. It’s not like it would matter once father came back. 

Azula stared at her ceiling. It was obvious that something was wrong. Chan’s father had dared to threaten her, declared her not a threat. He wouldn’t say something that stupid unless maybe her father really did flee the country, but why? Why would he leave her behind? He always said he needed her, that she was important. Which she was, of course.   
Ozai wasn’t going to come and help her anytime soon. Maybe she would need to help him? How though, she was stuck here. She barely had anything to go off of. If only she was able to finish packing up her old room. The cops had been watching her the whole time, meaning she had to leave everything actually important at her father’s house. 

Azula sat up on her bed and stared out the window, it was dark outside. She wondered how much of what she could remember actually happened. Did Sokka actually ask her for help? Seems unlike him. He never liked having her win, but she supposed there was only one way to find out for sure. It’s not like she planned to listen to her mother anyway.

She threw on a black hoodie before checking outside her room to assure her annoying family members were still downstairs. Azula made sure to shut her room light off so they would assume she was already asleep. She grabbed her backpack before climbing out her window, standing atop her roof. She hadn't done this in years. Just standing there in the cold night air brought back memories. Sneaking over to Sokka’s house every night and playing video games with him. Always making sure her father never found out just exactly how much time she spent hanging around the neighbor boy. Surely he would’ve killed her had he known.

Azula carefully leaped over the fence that divided the two houses, landing firmly on the roof just outside his window. His current was drawn but she could see the lights were on. She took a deep breath as she knocked on his window. Hoping that he actually did talk to her and she wasn’t completely insane. Of course she was still crazy for even coming over to his house again, but that's besides the point.

She could hear rustling from inside his room before he quickly appeared in the window,

“I didn’t think you’d actually show up,” He smirked as he opened up his window,

“How could I resist telling you how stupid you are,” She smirked back. Pushing him out of the way and climbing inside his room,

“Wow, how could you be so rude,” Sokka sighed dramatically, “After everything you’ve done! And now ontop of that, calling me stupid!” 

“Stop being dramatic, you’re acting like Zuzu,” She chuckled. Her arms crossed as she looked around his room. It was a lot different from the last time she saw it. Less childish and more organized. However she could still see his favorite action figures displayed proudly on his shelves. He was such a nerd,

“Wow you still know how to laugh?” Sokka gasped, “I thought your dad dragged that out of you, along with the rest of your heart,”

“Ha Ha,” Azula said, rolling her eyes, “As if I ever had one to begin with,”

“Edgy much?” He questioned, leaning in towards her. She looked up to him, making their eyes lock onto each other, “Thought you were better than that.”

“Whatever,” She said pushing away from him, setting her backpack on his desk, “What homework do you need help with so I can get out of your filthy room already.”

“What! My room isn't filthy!” Sokka exclaimed, throwing his arms up into the air. He followed her with his eyes only to find her with her arms crossed with her eyebrow raised towards him, “I just cleaned it!”

“Trying to impress me?” She smirked,

“Wouldn’t you like that,” He sighed, as he walked over to the desk and started rummaging through his backpack, “Here it is.”

Azula snatched the papers from his hands and looked over them carefully, “So what exactly do you need help on?”

“Uh well-” He started trying to think of a good answer. Obviously he didn’t need any actual help, he wasn’t that stupid. Before he could think of something he heard a knock on his door,

“Sokka, mom wanted you to know-” Katara started as she walked into his room. Of course she never cared about respecting her older brother's privacy, why would she? Sokka gulped nervously as his little sister set her eyes on Azula, “What are you doing here?”

“Katara- it’s not what you think I swear,” Sokka quickly defended, pulling his sister into the room and closing the door behind them,

“I don’t care! You know you’re not allowed to have girls in your room!” Katara argued, her eyes going back and forth between her brother and their old friend, “Especially not after you got caught-”

“Yeah, okay I get it! No need to go into details,” Sokka said, his face growing red with embarrassment, “She’s just here because I needed help with my homework, okay?”

“Since when? And why ask her!” Katara said, pointing at Azula who just awkwardly backed towards the window,

“I just do, and she already said she would help me.” He insisted,

“She did?” Katara questioned, turning towards Azula, “You did?”

“As a joke,” Azula sighed,

“But you’re still here-” Katara started, glaring at her,

“To make fun of him,” Azula replied quickly,

“Katara really, nothings going on,” Sokka said, grabbing his sister's shoulders and looking into her eyes, “I just need help with one question okay?”

“Fine,” Katara sighed, “But if she's still here in ten minutes I’m telling mom and dad.”

“Deal,” Sokka nodded, before shoving his sister out of his room. Not letting her say anything else. He was lucky no one had told her what happened at school today yet. If she knew she would be throwing Azula out the window herself. Worried that Azula would hurt her older brother if he ended up saying the wrong thing. Sokka shut his door and turned back towards Azula, “Sorry,”

“No girls allowed huh?” She questioned, looking back down to his homework,

“It’s a long story,” He insisted, “Trust me you really don’t want to know.”

“What if I did?” She asked, not looking up to him,

“What?” He said, shocked,

“Not that I do of course,” She insisted, “But it’s hard to believe any girl would actually want to- ya’know, with you.”

“It’s not hard to believe at all!” Sokka said, his face growing red again,

“Sure, If you say so Sokka,” Azula smirked, finally looking up at him. He was always too easy to tease, “Now can you finally tell me which question you need help on?”

“Right- Uh,” Sokka looked over the homework and quickly pointed to a random spot on the page. Receiving an odd look from Azula, “That one,”

“Sokka that's where your name goes,” Azula glared, “You’re not that stupid- wait are you?”

“No! I’m not!” Sokka insisted, ripping the papers from her, “I just- was uh- pointing to the wrong thing.”

“Jesus you go even worse at lying.” Azuka sighed,

“Like that's a bad thing?” Sokka pouted,

“What do you actually want?” Azula glared, placing her hands no her hips, “You’re wasting my time,”

“Okay fine, you win.” Sokka said, “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I know we’re not friends or whatever, but still-”

Azula rolled her eyes before quickly turning towards his window and trying to climb out. Sokka was fast to grab her arm and pull her back, “Azula wait,”

“I told you I was fine! I don’t need you pretending to care just because you pity me!” Azula glared, ripping her arm away from him,

“I wasn’t pretending-” He started,

“Oh sure,” Azula sighed, looking away from him

“No really!” He said, quickly moving in front of her, “Zula, just because I’m mad at you doesn’t mean I’m not worried about you.”

“Stop calling me that,” She said, a tint of red showing on her cheeks,

“Nope,” He smirked, leaning down to her, “I thought you said you liked it when I called you that?”

“Yeah when I was 13!” She glared turning back to him, his face was right in front of her own. Azula could feel her face heat up, she hated it. He was standing there smirking while he stared into her eyes. How was she supposed to come up with a better retort while he was staring at her like that?

“Zula?” He questioned due to her lack of response, looking at her with concerned eyes,

“Since you don’t need me I will be going home,” Azula said picking up her backpack,

“Wait-” He started,

“Don’t!” Azula said as she climbed out the window. Not even giving him a chance to react this time. She quickly slid down his roof, jumping back over to her own. Her face was still red when she landed in her bedroom. She threw her backpack onto her desk chair and face planted right onto her bed.

That’s it, I’m finding father. Before this gets any worse, she thought.


	9. Chapter 9

Darkness swept over her room. She had been grounded for days but It hadn’t been too much of an inconvenience yet. Her mother mostly just forced her to eat with them and try to make her a part of this fake family. Ursa was wasting her time, but then again Azula had been wasting her time as well. Tonight was the night she would finally do something about the itching feeling that crept in the back of her mind. Eating away at her sanity.

She memorized her mother's schedule, she should be asleep by now. She would have to be fast, Ursa usually woke up early in the morning. While she never came into Azula’s room, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Azula opened her closet, dressing herself in dark jeans along with a long black hoodie. She stretched a black mask over her face as she walked over to the neat pile of boxes that stayed perfectly against her wall. 

She scanned over each box before grabbing on from the top. Azula placed it gently on her bed, using her sharp nails to slice apart the tape that held the box together. The only thing in the box was a large teddy bear. Azula carefully picked it out of the box, shaking it lightly. It was still as heavy as she remembered, 

“Good thing I’ve always hated bears,” Azula mumbled as she looked over the teddy bear with disgust. She flipped it over, gripping the loose stitching on its back and ripping it open with her nails. Azula reached her hand inside the bear, only pulling out her lighter, as well as a small compact gun her father had given her for emergencies. She dropped the bear back into the box,

She would be sure to stitch it back up later.

Azula grabbed the gun in her hand. It was loaded, one round was all she had. She would have to be careful. Azula carefully placed the gun in her pocket, making sure it was concealed, before throwing the lighter into her backpack and slinging it over her shoulder.

She pulled her hood over her head, tucking her hair into the hoodie before walking over to her window. Faint mur murs could still be heard from Zuzu’s room. He wouldn't notice her slip out, he never did, but she would still need to be quiet.

Carefully she slid her window open before quietly climbing onto the roof. She slid down to the edge of the room. Kneeling down and slipping into her yard. 

The streets riddled with darkness, the only light beaming down from the street lights. Azula hid in the darkness, quickly strolling through the empty streets. The bus she needed to catch would be arriving soon. 

The streets appeared to be silent until the sound of a tig breaking behind her made her spin around. She couldn't see anything, no one was there. Azula kept walking, feeling eyes on her as she moved. She kept checking behind her, only to find nothing, not even the shadows that had been haunting her.

Maybe she was going crazy.

Azula stopped in front of a bus stop, sitting herself down on the bench. Luckily she hadn’t missed it. Buses were few and far between at this hour and she currently didn't have a better mode of transportation. 

The light above her flickered, consistently leaving her in total darkness. Azula could still feel eyes staring darts into her back. She looked behind her again, still nothing. A pit fell in her stomach, borrowing itself inside her, making her chest tighten; how annoying. She didn't have time to be anxious. 

Her head turned back to the road as headlights came into her view. The bus stopped in front of her before opening its doors and letting her inside. She was quick to slide her change into the counter and speed towards the back of the bus. Totally obvious to the person who had followed her onboard.

Azula sat in the back. There were few passengers on the bus. Some of them were even asleep. Most of them were turned facing away from her, making it hard for her to observe them, but they didn’t seem like immediate threats.

It was a long time before Azula reached her stop. Her eyes had almost gone drowsy by the time she arrived. She shook her head, trying to wake herself up again before stepping off the bus. A shiver went up her body. It was colder outside than she remembered. 

Azula ignored the continuous feeling of someone following her. Choosing to pick up her pace instead of wasting time checking behind her. She was just being anxious for no reason, it was ridiculous.

The houses surrounding her slowly became bigger and bigger as she walked. She was close.

Azula turned, moving herself up the driveway of a large house. It was almost the size of a mansion; secluded; no pesky neighbors to bother her. She walked closely to the large walls that served as fences along the driveway. Being careful to stay in the darkness, not wanting to be caught on any cameras. Quickly she came to a halt as soon as she heard voices coming towards her.

No one should be here. The cops had stopped investigating this place days ago. 

Azula carefully hid in the bushes as two large men passed her by. One of them wore a suit, the other a vest that was proudly showing the fire insignia burned into his left shoulder,

“Agni Kai,” Azula mumbled as she placed her hand on her left shoulder, “What could you be doing here?”

She was careful to crawl away from the men, sticking close to the wall. 

There was no reason for her grandfather to have men searching her father’s house unless he was looking for something. But why? It couldn’t be anything good. It might mean Ozai ran away from not just the cops but Azulon as well. One thing is for sure, she needed to be careful. If her father and grandfather were fighting these guys wouldn’t be happy to see her.

“Hey! Stop right there!” One of the men yelled, making her freeze up. How could she have been spotted? She was being so careful! Azula turned to the men, still laying low to the ground, only to realize they weren’t yelling at her but someone else. She moved a few leaves out of the way, squinting to get a better look at who they were apprehending,

“Sokka?” She whispered as her eyes widened. Why was he here? He must have been trailing her. At least that meant she wasn’t crazy. She sighed, mentally slapping herself for being so careless. Father would be disappointed, 

“I said stop!” The man repeated, raising his gun towards Sokka, “What are you doing here?”

“H-hey! Woah look I don’t want trouble-” Sokka insisted with both of his arms raised, 

“He’s seen too much already, Azulon wants no witnesses.” The other man said as he approached Sokka. Azula could see the beads of sweat rolling down Sokka’s forehead while he frantically looked around,

“Leave him Azula,” The dark voice whispered in her ear, making her body go cold. Azula bit hard on her lip as she felt a hand cross over her cheek, “He serves as a good distraction.”

Her fists tightened as she watched Sokka try to plead for his life. The voice was right, she would be able to get in easily while he was killed. So why was it hard to turn away? Father would tell her she shouldn’t care for him anyway, to let him die,

“Sorry kid. Bosses orders,” The man in the suit stated, pointing the gun straight for his head. He was about to pull the trigger before suddenly collapsing onto the ground. Standing before him was Azula, shocking both the other man as well as Sokka. Before either of them could move Azula cocked her gun and pointed at the man who was still standing,

“Why had Azulon sent you here?” Azula asked in her best commanding tone. Trying to stay steady as she glared him down, 

“You look far too young to know that name,” He said coldly, “Who are you?”

“I don’t think you’re in the position to be asking questions,” She answered back, “Now answer me.”

“I only answer to Azulon,” He replied, shaking his head, “Sorry little one.” 

Azula bit the inside of her cheek, she knew he would report back to her grandfather. Azulon would know it was her. There wasn’t another teenage girl crazy enough to stand up to two armed guards. She closed her eyes for a second, trying to calm her mind,

“He needs to die Azula,” The voice said again. His words echoing through her mind. He was right, so why did her hand start shaking. She should be ready for this, it was supposed to be easy, just like father said. 

When she opened her eyes she was quick to realize she had them shut for too long. The man was now rushing towards her forcing her to step back, almost losing her own footing. Panic ran through her mind as she tried to find a way to correct her mistake, but he was coming towards her too quickly and she couldn’t shoot. His hands reached towards her gun but before he could grab it he was met with a fist to his cheek, pushing him off balance and sending him to the ground. Azula looked up to Sokka who was shaking his fist in the air,

“Owww-” He complained before Azula quickly slammed her gun into the man's head, knocking him out. She turned to Sokka a little surprised. She hadn’t been expecting him to act that way,

“Thanks,” Azula grumbled, masking her shock with a glare, “Now tell me what the hell you’re doing here?”

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here!” He said as he gestured back and forth between her and the two now incopasitated men on the floor, “And how the hell did you get a gun!?”

“Of course you’d ask that,” Azula sighed, sliding the gun back into her pocket, before grabbing one of the guards and dragging them into a nearby bush, “A little help?”

“What do you mean of course I’d ask that! It's a perfectly logical question Zula!” He replied, his vision now steady on the other man laying on the ground. Sokka groaned before finally deciding to help her move him into the bus. 

“I thought I told you to stop calling me that,” She said, slightly out of breath, “Now tell me, why did you follow me here?”

“I saw you leave your room late at night, I was worried you were running away, I don’t know,” He sighed, “I didn’t think you would be trying to break into someones mansion!”

“I’m not breaking into anything.” She insisted, a confident smirk painted across her face “This is my house, is it so wrong for me to want to visit my home?” 

Sokka looked at her, his mouth now gaped open in shock, “Wh-what? Well no? But the gun-”

“Don’t worry about it.” She said before grabbing his hand and pulling him with her into the darkness before anyone else could see them, “You need to get out of here. Now.”

“I’m not leaving you here with sketchy crime dudes!” He said, tightening his grip on her hand, 

“You’re the one who almost got killed,” Azula sighed, looking down at their hands and quickly ripping hers from his, “I was perfectly fine.”

“I wouldn’t have walked into them if I had known they were crazy people with guns,” He insisted,

“Yeah you would’ve called your dad here and had this place lit up with cops instead, so helpful,” She said, rolling her eyes. Before he could open his mouth again she slammed him against the wall and placed her hand over his mouth, “Shh”

Two more men slowly walked by them, talking amongst themselves. Sokka looked down to Azula, her eyes were trained on the guards. His face flushed slightly when he realized how close her body was pressed to his. She hadn’t seemed to notice.

The sound of footsteps faded as the men walked down to the street. Azula leaned away from him as she looked around checking for anyone else. A small breath escaped Sokka’s lips when she finally let go of him,

“Alright it should be safe for you to leave now,” Azula stated, pointing towards the street,

“Like I said I’m not leaving without you,” Sokka insisted again , “Clearly neither of us should be here.”

“Speak for yourself- you’re the one who followed me here remember.” Azula glared, “But if you insist on staying, don’t get in my way.”

Sokka watched as she continued to walk towards the house. He looked over to the street and then back to her, she had made it to one of the windows and was finding a way to unlock it. His dad would kill him if he found out what he was doing, it's not like him and Azula were friends anymore. He should leave, he knew that,

“So you decided to stay?,” Azula whispered as Sokka walked up behind her. She had been able to get the window propped open and was sitting on the ledge, already half way inside the house, “Just don’t cry about it later okay?”

“I’m not going to cry about it,” He complained, “I’m a grown ass man now, remember?”

“Sure you are” Azula rolled her eyes as she finished climbing into the house. They were in the living room on the ground floor. She hadn't seen it in months but it appeared to be untouched. Her head turned down the hallway, she could hear loud crashing sounds coming from the kitchen. Azulons hentchmen would be inside as well. Azula glared at Sokka as he climbed through the window, “Just keep your mouth shut and follow me okay?”

“Okay-” He nodded reluctantly,

“What did I just say?” Azula whispered, still glaring at him. His face scrunched up as she turned away from him, staring to go down the hall. He should’ve left when he had the chance. 

The shuffled slowly down the hallways. Sokka followed Azula carefully, staying as close to the wall as he could. Hentchmen had been piled up, rummaging through each room. Sokka and Azula had been careful to pass by doorways, so far going unnoticed. 

Azula stopped suddenly making him almost run into her. She pulled Sokka into a corner as a man walked past them, turning down a different hallway. A breath escaped her lips as she peered around the corner checking to make sure it was safe before continuing down the hall. 

“Shit,” She whispered, before backing up into Sokka. There were three men guarding the foot of the stairs. She leaned against the wall, rubbing her forehead with her hand. She couldn’t go in and fight them, they needed some type of distraction. Azula looked up to Sokka who was already looking down at her. He seemed to be biting down on his lip, trying to keep himself from saying anything, “What is it?”

“I thought you said no talking,” He whispered back a slight smirk appearing on his face,

“Is now really the time?” She glared, rubbing her forehead harder, “Just tell me your idea already.”

Sokka’s smirk grew as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small earpiece, “We could use it to distract them.”

“Where did you get that?” She said as she reached for it only for him to hold it higher over his head and out of her reach,

“Took it off one of the assholes you knocked out while you were busy opening the window,” He whispered proudly, “Now admit it, I’m amazing.”

Azula just glared at him before quickly jumping up and snatching it from his hands, “I will admit no such thing.”

“Hey!” He pouted trying to take it back. Azula was quick to slap his hand and place the earpiece on her ear making Sokka sigh in defeat, “You’re no fun,”

“Assistance is needed at the front gate right away, over.” Azula said over the earpiece, ignoring Sokka’s complaining. She peered around the wall, waiting for the hentchmen to react.

One of the men put his hand to his ear as he listened to her request, “We will be right there, over.”

He gestured to the other men to follow him as he went to exit the house. Azula grabbed Sokka’s arm and pulled him quickly away from the wall and up the stairs, being careful not to run into anyone else. 

Upstairs was surprisingly empty. As they looked around they couldn’t seem to find a single person patrolling the area. Azula started to look in each room. Starting with what once had been her bedroom, it appeared to now be in shreds. The books pulled off the shelves, furniture broken. It reminded her of how her current room had appeared to look the other night. 

Among further inspection, all the rooms appeared to be this way, even the bathrooms. Azula could feel her heartbeat quicken as she sprinted away from Sokka towards her father's office. It was also destroyed. His desk was flipped over along with his chair, the portrait was torn down, books scattered on the floor. Even his alcohol cabinet was smashed up, expensive whiskey wasted on the floor,

“Thanks for abandoning me Zula!” Sokka whisper yelled as he finally caught up to her, finding her standing in the middle of the room, “It’s greatly appreciated!”

Azula ignored him, running over to one of her father's bookshelves. It was empty, but otherwise untouched. She grabbed it, picking it up and dragging it away from the wall,

“What are you doing?” Sokka asked, but again she didn’t respond. Instead she frantically ripped a panel from the wall, revealing a small keypad, “Woah-”

She rapidly typed numbers into the keypad. Upon pressing enter the wall next to her slid open exposing a small room. Azula smirked as she walked inside, completely ignoring Sokka who was yet again stunned in surprise. Father had kept this room a secret to everyone, even her. No one was supposed to know the password. Surely if he found out that she had spied on him and memorized the code he would be upset, but it wasn’t the time to worry about that. 

“So this is why you came here?” He said, looking around the room. It was small. Filing cabinets made it impossible to see the walls. Only a small light hung from the ceiling, illuminating the room, “What exactly is all of this?”

Azula still didn’t respond to him, instead she was scouring through the cabinets. He watched her pull out different files, looking at each one before deciding whether or not it was worthy of going in her backpack. 

“Shit shit shit-” Azula finally said as she started to rip open all the cabinet drawers. She desperately searched through all of them, spilling the files onto the floor,

“Zula?” Sokka questioned, placing his hand on her shoulder. The action stunned her for a second before she turned to him,

“We need to get out of here,” She stated urgently,

“Well that's what I’ve been trying to tell you-” He started, looking a little peeved off,

“No you don’t understand. Someone's been here!” Azula declared as she threw more files into her backpack before zipping it back up and throwing it back over her shoulder, “My uncle and my cousins files are completely gone, along with some others.”

“So?” He looked at her confused,

“Everything should be here! My father wouldn’t have taken them with him,” She said, starting to panic as her eyes darted around the room, “We need to leave-”

Except she couldn’t just leave could she? If someone had found this room, it couldn’t be long before Azulon did as well. If her father and him were fighting like she suspected he would be sure to use all this as evidence against him. Her eyes kept darting until they finally landed on her father's alcohol cabinet.

Father always had a backup plan. What would he do?

She pulled the lighter out of her backpack and stared at it for a second before slowly walking over to the cabinet and picking up one of the remaining bottles of whiskey,

“Zula?” Sokka questioned, but it was like she didn’t even hear him. She held her lighter to her face, her thumb stroking it quickly, making sparks jump before her eyes, “Azula!”

“Do it Azula,” The deep voice whispered into her ear. The room darkened around her, cutting off Sokka’s pleas of sanity, “Burn it all to the ground!”  
She felt it absorb her as she threw the bottle into the small room, waiting to hear it crash; splattering all over the cabinets. Azula looked at the small fire dance around a top her lighter before she threw the lighter into the room as well.

Time froze as Azula watched the fire ignite, inflaming the small room. It didn’t take long for the fire to destroy every paper in its path. Quickly gaining size,

“Azula!” Sokka said frantically as he shook her, wiping the smirk from her face. The darkness that covered the room was cast away revealing that the fire hadn’t been contained in that room. It spread quickly, attaching itself to the alcohol that had been spilled all over the floor, “Seriously we have to get out of here!”

She took a step back from him before looking around the room. The door they came through had been covered in flames, their only way out had to be the window. Azula sprinted over to it, she tried to push it open but it refused to budge. On further inspection it would appear her father made sure to bolt the windows in his office, how had she not noticed that before?

“Shit,” She mumbled, before turning towards the doors again. She didn't think this through. What was wrong with her. Azula covered her face with her hands, she's never been so impsulive before,

“Move-” Sokka said out of breath. Waiting for her to move before slamming her father's chair into the window. It bounced off the first time, and the second time. She watched wide eyed as Sokka took a deep breath and slammed it into the window a third time making it shatter to pieces. Azula quickly took off her hoodie and cleared away any excess glass before climbing out the window. 

Azulon’s men were already scrambling away from the house. They must have seen the smoke. Sokka and Azula both jumped down the side of the house. Landing in the yard. She groaned, pushing herself onto her elbows, looking back up at the window. Smoke was protruding out of it. This time Sokka was the one to grab her arm and pull her away, sprinting towards the street despite the slight limp in his step,

“You’re crazy,” Sokka said, still out of breath. He had his hands places on his knees as he was keeled over trying to breathe, “Completely insane,”

“I was going to compliment you on not being totally useless but if you are going to be rude-” Azula replied, also out of breath,

“No no go ahead, continue,” He chuckled back, finally catching his breath and standing back up straight before mumbling, “Jesus christ,” 

“Come on, let's get out of here,” She sighed throwing her jacket around her waist and tying it, before she started to walk down the sidewalk,

“You at least owe me an explanation Zula!” He said, following her down the street, 

“Do I?” She asked, sounding a little bit annoyed,

“You just set a house on fire!” He yelled back,

“Fine fine,” Azula sighed, stopping at the bus stop and sitting down on the bench, “I will answer your questions until the bus comes, fair?”

“What? No!” Sokka groaned, falling down next to her, “Just- why did you come here?”

“Maybe I was homesick,” She answered,

“The truth,” He said glaring at her, making her roll her eyes,

“My father is missing. I needed his information in order to find him,” Azula said, showing him the files she had shoved into her backpack,

“Alright accept he's not missing he just ran away from the cops because you know- he’s a wanted criminal!” Sokka replied to her making her glare back to him,

“He wouldn’t leave without me unless he had something wrong,” She insisted. Her face was stoic but Sokka could see the doubt flash in her eyes,

“But Zula he's not exactly-” Sokka started,

“Next question.” She said, cutting him off and looking away from him. He sat there for a second, staring at her as he opened and closed his mouth trying to think of what to say,

“Fine- why were those men trying to kill us,” Sokka finally said, giving up on trying to talk about Ozai,

“The kind thats none of your business,” She answered,

“You said you would answer my questions,” He glared, clearly growing more upset as Azula looked down to the ground in silence. Sokka stared at her waiting for an answer that wouldn’t come, “Zula- please just tell me what’s going on.”

Azula bit her lip, opening her mouth for just a second before seeing the bus turn onto their street “Sorry Sokka. Times up.”

“Bullshit!” Sokka yelled as he stood up, “I deserve an answer Azula!”

“Why! You’re the one that followed me here!” Azula yelled back, “I didn’t ask for you to come here! I don’t owe you anything, you’re lucky I even answered you’re stupid questions!”

“Wow! Sorry that I was worried about my friend sneaking out in the middle of the night-” He started,

“Not your friend,” Azula correct,

“Right my bad, my best friends little baby sister,” He sneered, watching her grit her teeth, “Next time I’ll do the right thing and tell my dad instead. He can bring the whole police force-”

“Is that a threat?” She glared, digging her nails into her hands,

“Does it need to be?” He glared back, “I can call him right now- I’m sure he could use what's in your backpack to find your father,”

Azula’s eyes went wide as the bus approached them. Maybe he was bluffing, if he told his father surely he would get in huge trouble as well. Maybe it was worth it for him to see her pay for everything she had done to him,

“Fine-” She mumbled, “I’ll tell you, but not here.”

“If you’re tricking me-” He started,

“I’m not,” Azula sighed as she climbed onto the bus, “Have some faith.”

Sokka glared at her as he followed her onto the bus, “It’s not my fault you make it sooo difficult.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to post- also sorry for any grammar errors. I kept getting called into work on my days off so it was hard to finish! I'll try to get the next one up sooner :3


	10. Chapter 10

"How about here?" Sokka asked for the hundredth time as they climbed off the bus. He had been persistent since they sat down together on the bus, despite the amount of people around them who were in the middle of their morning commute to work. The light of the morning had just started to shine over the rooftops. Ursa and Zuko would be awake soon,

"Oh yes Sokka! The sidewalk is the perfect place for telling people secret information," Azula groaned, turning around and glaring at him, 

"You could at least tell me where the hell we're going." He said, making an exasperated sigh,

“My house? Where else would I be taking you?” She rolled her eyes,

“Well- I don’t know,” He mumbled,

“Please tell me you’re not stupid enough to think I have some secret hide out?” Azula said, narrowing her eyes on him,

“Hey! That is a perfectly logical conclusion okay!” Sokka said, quickly trying to defend himself, 

“Sure Sokka,” Azula shook her head, “If it makes you feel better, go ahead and tell yourself that.”

She could hear him mumbling angrily behind her as she walked ahead of him. Azula was trying to think of what exactly she should tell him. Surely she couldn’t tell him the whole truth, but she had to tell him something. Sokka would be able to tell if she was lying and if he decided to tell his dad the truth it was all over for her.

If only she had been more careful. Watched her back, and made sure no one was following her, maybe she wouldn’t be in this mess. She sank her teeth down into her cheek. She was starting to slip, she could feel it. Azula knew she needed to stop indulging herself in her own anxiety and get her head in the game. Ozai could already be dead for all she knew.

They climbed over the fence that led into her backyard, being careful not to be caught in front of a window, they slid around to the side of the house. Before Sokka could talk Azula scaled the fence, standing atop of it, and leaping over to the roof. He looked up at her dumbstruck,

“What? Do you need help?” She taunted, smirking down to him and placing her hands on her hips. He hated the superior look in her eyes as she loomed over him,

“Don’t be ridiculous!” He scoffed as he pulled himself on top of the fence. Sokka balanced himself as he stood up straight, trying his best not to wobble and fall over. The roof wasn’t too far away from the fence, but it was by no means an easy jump. Sokka took a deep breath, trying not to look down, he threw himself at the roof. Sadly he was not as lucky as Azula was, and ended up scrambling for something to hold onto to keep himself from falling to the ground. He ended up latching onto the gutter. Gripping to it with all his strength, and attempting to pull himself up,

“So, you don’t need help right now right?” She smirked leaning down to him as he struggled to hold onto the roof,

“Azula!” He groaned as he failed to pull himself up again. It made him wish he spent more time actually working out in gym class instead of messing around with his friends,

“What? You seem like you have it all handled,” Azula chuckled, receiving a serious look from Sokka who had stop trying to pull himself onto the room, and was barely holding onto the gutter,

“Please,” He pouted, giving her his best puppy dog eyes,

“Fiiinnnne,” She sighed, rolling her eyes before finally reaching down and grabbing his arm. He gripped her arm back tightly as she struggled to pull him up. He was heavier than she remembered, “Fuck you got fat.”

“I’m not fat!” Sokka complained as she continued to slowly pull him onto the roof. Her success was only met by Sokka practically falling on top of her, almost making both of them fall off the roof,

“Thanks,” Sokka smiled as he looked down at her. She glared at him for a second as she held tightly to the roof to keep them from falling. He could swear he saw her face redden slightly when his eyes met hers,

“Don’t mention it,” Azula groaned, before shoving Sokka off and climbing up to her window. She pushed it open, hoping Ursa and her brother were still asleep as she climbed inside. The door to her room was still shut and the house appeared to be silent. At the very least no one had realized she was gone which was a positive sign. 

Sokka followed Azula into her room. He hadn't seen it in years but it still looked somewhat the same. The bed and desk still sat in the same spot, but all her video game posters were nowhere to be seen. The shelves that used to be cluttered with toys were barren, now only filled with a few textbooks. He didn’t even find her secret stash of stuffed animals she hid away from her father under her bed. It felt wrong almost, like it didn’t belong to her anymore. 

Sokka frowned as he turned to Azula, she was organizing what papers they had been able to take on her desk. 

"Soo, you going to get to explaining or what?" He asked as he took a seat on her bed, making her turn to him,

"Who said you could sit on my bed?" She glared at him,

"Stop the stalling Zula-," He started glaring back at her before someone knocked on her door,

“Azula? Are you awake?” He could hear Ursa ask from the hallway. Azula didn’t respond at first hoping her mother would just give up and walk away, but sadly she wasn’t so lucky, “Azula!”

“What!” Azula finally shouted, drawing Sokka’s attention to her fists that were now in tight little balls of rage. He blamed the darkness for failing to notice the bandages on her hands, a good friend wouldn’t miss that.

The thought made him scoff, good friend. 

“There's no need to yell Azula-” Ursa started,

“There's no need to wake me up at six am Ursa,” Azula responded, each word dipped in venom. He could hear her mother sigh from the other side of the door,

“Breakfast is in the fridge downstairs, don’t be a hassle on your brother while I'm at work,” Ursa responded, waiting a second for a response that didn’t come before walking downstairs.

Azula sighed, twirling her bangs with her finger as she fell down into her desk chair, “How annoying,” 

Sokka wasn’t sure what to say. He could bring up her mother, but that was always a bad idea. She probably wouldn’t be too happy about him asking how her hands were either. It was best to stay on topic wasn't it? A sigh escaped Sokka’s lips,

“Tell me what’s going on,” He said, 

Azula looked over to him as she leaned back in her chair, a smirk taking over her previous angry expression, "Well I thought it would be obvious to you Mr. Smarty Pants. My father is clearly innocent and I'm trying to clear his name."

"You think I'm going to fall for that?" Sokka questioned,

"It's the truth," Azula assured with a smirk on her face, as she nodded her head,

"Then who was trying to kill us?" He asked, “And why?”

"The people who set him up obviously," She said rolling her eyes,

"Right right right- of course," Sokka nodded, clearly not buying it, "and clearly your father is a hundred percent innocent of all crimes?"

"Sure," Azula shrugged, counting to play with her bangs. He gave her a second to continue, but she was more interested in spinning her perfect little bangs around to care about sustaining the conversation,

"Cut the crap Azula, I can tell you're lying," Sokka said, deeping his glare on her. She refused to meet eye contact with him as she dropped her hands onto her lap,

"I did not lie, how dare you accuse me of such a thing," Azula said, gasping dramatically,

"Uhuh uhuh," Sokka rolled his eyes, "Come on, I know there's more too it then that,"

Azula crossed her legs, leaning further back in her chair, "and I can trust you with this information because?"

“Because we were friends for years!” He exclaimed before lowering his voice and rubbing the back of his neck, “I mean I thought we were- but still, we did all kinds of stuff and I never told on you,”

“You just threatened to,” She countered with a sour look on her face,

“You didn’t give me much of a choice Azula,” He insisted, making her sigh again, “Fine- I promise, I won’t tell anyone- no matter how illegal it is,”

“You sure you won’t regret making that promise?” Azula asked, raising her eyebrow towards him,

“No I know I will, you’ll make sure of it,” Sokka chuckled, “But I still won't tell, unless someone's life is in danger,”

“Fine,” Azula smirked, “It’s not like you’ll believe me anyway,”

“Try me,” He persisted, leaning towards her,

“I wasn’t technically lying when I said my father was innocent. The cops are currently after him for smuggling in drugs from out of the country, something he’s never done himself.” She clarified, “and I do believe the people who were destroying my house were trying to set him up,”

“Okay great, you weren’t technically lying,” He said, swaying his head from side to side, “But if your dad is so squeaky clean then why would they do that?”

“I wouldn’t say he's squeaky clean,” She muttered, 

“So you did lie?” Sokka questioned, a smirk creeping over his face, “How dare!”

“Calm down,” Azula rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest, “Can I continue now?”

“Go ahead,” He responded gesturing for her to keep talking, 

“My grandfather is well, a very powerful person,” Azula stated, “I think my father has pissed him off, leading to my grandfather framing him and kicking him out of the- lets just say family.”

“Powerful person, huh?” Sokka muttered before sighing, “That means you’re kicked out too aren’t you?”

“I’d assume so yes,” She nodded, “Which is- regrettable, but I have no way of knowing for sure. I was hoping I could use my father's information to find one of his more trusted associates.” 

“Makes sense I guess,” He said, rubbing the back of his head, “You said files were missing? That someone stole them, but isn’t it possible your dad took them before leaving?”

“No, he isn’t stupid enough to get caught on the run with information he was likely using to blackmail people,” Azula responded, “I don’t know who took them, but all the information he had on my cousin and my uncle are gone.”

“How would that be useful to someone though? I thought they were both missing?” He asked,

“I don’t know-” She said, shaking her head, “Lu ten has been presumed dead since I was five, and my uncle well he disappeared soon after my parents got divorced. I can’t imagine the information my father had was anything more than crimes they commited, and I can’t see that being useful if both of them are missing.”

“Then why did you want them?” Sokka said, raising an eyebrow, “Curious maybe about what happened to your missing family?”

“Don’t be stupid. I took the files of everyone in my family-” She reasoned, “It would be bad if they fell into the wrong hands.”

“Fine- I suppose that's fair,” He nodded in agreement, “But aren’t you curious?”

“Maybe,” She muttered, “Father always told me they ran away, couldn’t handle the pressure of being in the “family“.”

“And you believe him?” Sokka asked, a doubtful look spread across his face,

“Does that really matter right now?” Azula responded, glaring at him,

“No- I guess not,” He sighed, giving up on trying to reason her out of listening to everything her daddy tells her, “So what exactly are we getting into?”

“We?” She repeated,

“Yes I’m helping you,” He assured making her scoff, “Get over it,”

“More like you will be following me like a little lost puppy while I keep you from getting killed?” Azula clarified,

“If that makes you feel better then sure!” Sokka nodded, “Now- What are we getting into?”

“Lots of big bad people with guns,” She guessed, tapping her finger to her chin,

“You can’t be more specific?” He groaned, throwing his arms towards her, “About anything?”

“I could- but where's the fun in that?” She smirked, watching him cover his face with his hands and fall back onto her bed,

“Must you be so complicated,” He mumbled, rubbing his hands on his face. Azula always had to be so frustrating, in every way possible. She had always known how to drive him crazy. Suddenly Sokka felt someone sit down next to him, making him slide his hands off his face, letting them fall to his sides,

“Maybe-,” Azula said, covering a yawn with her hand as she looked down to him, “But I just spent all night saving your ass and I’m very tired. Now do you mind getting off of my bed so I can sleep?”

“I don’t know, it's super comfy!” Sokka said, stretching himself out over her covers, “It’s not like you haven’t slept in my bed-”

Before Sokka could finish he was faced with Azula shoving him off of her bed, pushing him towards the window, “We're not kids anymore, and I don’t care.” 

“Ug- you’re really going to kick me out without finishing aren’t you?” Sokka whined,

“Of course,” She said, “Now get out.”

He looked back over to her to see that she was already laying in bed, covers pulled over herself, “Fine but we’re talking about this more later.”

“Yeah sure whatever,” Azula said waving her hand at him, “Just leave, I can’t sleep with such an annoying presence looming over me.”

“Uhuh,” Sokka rolled his eyes, giving her sleepy face one last look before climbing out her window. For some reason he felt compelled to stay. Maybe he was just feeling anxious about those guys hunting them down, or he just hated leaving without all the answers. Regardless, Sokka let out a sigh and climbed back over to his house. He quietly pushed his window open before sneaking back into his room. 

He hadn’t pulled an all nighter in a long time, so he was thankful it was the weekend. Sokka fell down onto his bed not realizing how tired he actually was until his head hit the pillow.

Half asleep he promised himself he would go back over later and force the rest out of her. Sokka pulled his covers over himself, she wasn’t getting out of this easily, even though the idea of hanging out with her again brought a smile to his sleepy face.


	11. Chapter 11

“Ursa told me you’re having some troubles at school?” Dr. Lawton said, smiling warmly at her from across the dining table. She could feel his eyes wandering to the bandages that still wrapped firmly around her fists,

“If that's what you’d like to call them.” Azula sighed, staring off towards the wall. She was exhausted. Unlike Sokka she wasn’t allowed the luxury of sleep, instead she was rudely awoken by her dumb older brother. He insisted Dr. Lawton was here to see her despite her many complaints, 

“I thought you might want to elaborate,” He shrugged, folding his hands and placing them on the table, “Things are not always as they seem, and I want to think the best of you.”

Azula stared at him for a second, her eyes barely staying open. She hadn’t expected him to say something like that. Ursa certainly told him what had happened, but he seemed to be more understanding than her own mother. She sighed as she looked away from him, “Someone hurt my friend so I made sure they regretted it. There's not that much more to the story.”

“Loyalty, is that something important to you?” 

“I suppose, does it matter?” Azula asked, raising her eyebrow,

“I think so,” He nodded in return, “I hope you understand violence isn't the best way to react in that situation?”

“Hindsight is twenty twent I suppose,”

“I suppose that is true, I hope next time you feel more comfortable telling an adult instead?” Dr. Lawton suggested, his tone was so disgustingly kind. It made her want to puke, “You could even tell me if you’d like?”

“Sure thing,” Azula said with her most convincing smile, “I’ll remember that for next time.”

His smile seemed to widen, hopefully he believed her. Azula was far too tired to tell if she was actually being convincing or not, “You seem tired? We could end this session early if you’d like.”

“I would appreciate that actually,” She perked up for the first time since she was awakened, eager to get back to her room and in her nice warm bed,

“Of course, your wellbeing is what is most important," Azula tried to keep smiling, she didn’t want him to know she was repulsed by his kindness, "There's just one more thing. Your Father's house. It was found on fire this morning. Most of the upstairs- including your room, was completely burned."

He suddied her as she tried to think of a response. He couldn’t know she was the one who did it. There was no proof. He was probably only worried about her; she reminded herself, “What happened?”

“The cops are unsure right now,” He sighed, “I’m sorry-”

“No need for apologies,” She was quick to stop him. She didn’t need his pity, especially not for something she put on herself, “It wasn’t your fault.”

“I know, but I’m sure this is scary for you. Just remember you aren’t alone, okay?” He tried to smile at her again. Did he ever frown? Azula just nodded at him in response, hoping he would get the memo that she was fine and finally pack up to leave, “Your mother even has full custody of you, so you don’t have to worry about finding a new home.”

"and that’s supposed to be good news?" Azula mumbled, tightening her fists,

"I know it's been hard to get used to being here, but I really think you'll do well here with her Azula." He said, carefully picking up his briefcase and standing up, "Please remember you can call me anytime you need to?"

Azula nodded in response, barely able to keep her head from falling. She watched as Dr. Lawton waved to her as he walked away. Zuko was ready at the door to say goodbye to him as he exited the house. She waited until he was finally gone before finally pulling herself away from the table.

Zuko might have said something to her, but she was already up the stairs before he could even approach her. Her body stumbled into her room, closing her door softly behind her. Her room that was once dark and peaceful was now covered in light, how annoying. She fell onto her bed, curling herself deep into her blanks. Finally falling back into a nice warm slumber.

However, it didn’t last long.

Her phone had been going off for the past ten minutes. It was unlucky that she had left across the room on her desk. Azula had tried her best to ignore it but it just kept ringing. Whoever was calling her clearly had a deathwish.

Azula groaned, fisting her pillow and slamming it towards her desk. Of course that didn't do anything, the phone just kept ringing.

Louder

And Louder

Finally she rose to her feet, stomping over to her desk,

"What do you want," She yelled, gritting her teeth as she answered the phone,

"Azula finally! I've been calling you for like ten minutes!" Ty Lee complained,

"Yes! I was trying to sleep." Azula stated, tightening her hand around her phone. The pain in her fists was irrelevant to her anger, "I clearly didn't want to be woken!"

"S-sorry, usually you're up early," Her friend said softly, she was clearly still upset, "I've wanted to call you all week- Mai told me what happened, but I wasn’t sure what to say. I mean- thank you Azula. I know your mom must be mad- and you even got suspended!"

"It's not a big deal. Chan- he hasn't been bothering you at school has he?" Azula said, taking a deep breath and trying to calm herself down. She shouldn’t be mean to Ty Lee right now, even if she was further depriving her of her well deserved beauty sleep, 

"No- well I haven't gone back to school yet," Ty Lee said, "I'll be sure to be there on monday though. Mai said the school has been saying awful things about you- but it's gonna be okay! We will stay with you-"

"I appreciate it but I don't care what some losers think about me, just worry about yourself okay?"

"I-i will! I'm starting to hate being at home around my sisters all the time anyway- they're so annoying! And it's not like my parents have even noticed that I'm not going to school," Ty Lee started to ramble, going on about how each of her sisters were trying to make her life a living hell. Azula tried to actually listen for once, trying her best not to doze off. Her eyes failed her a few times before she shook her head to wake herself back up.

Ten minutes passed and Ty Lee kept talking. Azula was now sitting back in her chair, head resting on her own shoulder. She had been snapping a hairband on her wrist to try and keep herself awake. She thought about cutting her friend off and demanding her to let her get some sleep, but Ty Lee actually sounded happier now than when she had first picked up the phone.

Suddenly a loud knock came from her window. It made her jump, almost dropping her phone in the process. She could hear Ty Lee ask her if she was okay as she quickly turned towards her window to see what was going on. Azula grimaced as she saw Sokka waving to her. A smile was spread way too far across his face, she could tell he was proud he scared the crap out of her. He was practically laughing to god's sake,

"Jesus christ Sokka!" Azula glared at him, “What the hell is wrong with you!”

"Wait Sokka? Is he at your house? You're talking to him again!" Ty Lee quickly said. Her friend was getting a little too delighted about this news than Azula would have liked, “Did you make up? Why didn’t you tell me?”

"I have to go Ty Lee, see you on monday." Was all Azula said before she hung up the phone. She could hear Ty Lee yell in protest but it didn’t stop her. She was quick to get out of her chair and thrust open her window,

“What are you doing here?” Azula groaned still glaring at him,

"I said I would come back later, remember? Now is later- plus I found out some useful information," Sokka smirked proudly, "Now will you let me in before Zuko sees me out here and starts wondering why I'm sneaking into your room?"

Azula dragged her hand over her face, rubbing her fingers into the bridge of her nose, "Like you even care? I’m the one who would get in trouble,"

"I'd rather not have my best friend get all over protective brother on me okay?" Sokka rolled his eyes as he pushed his way into her room. He didn’t wait for her to move out of the way, deciding to land right in front of her,

"Zuzu being over protective? Please," Azula scoffed, looking up at him. She didn't realize how close he was to her before she looked up. Regrettably she could feel heat rush to her face and took a few big steps back from him as fast as she could, 

"You'd be surprised. You are his itty bitty sister aren't you?" Sokka snickered, smirking down to her,

"Call me that again and I'll rip off the itty bitty that’s in your pants," Azula glared back at him, making him gulp. It was obvious he wanted to defend himself, but she refused him the chance, "Now what do you want?"

"No need to be so hasty okay?" Sokka said putting his hands up and moving over to her desk, "After I got up I started looking into what we're up against, since you know you wouldn't tell me, and I think I have a good guess."

"Do you now?" Azula asked, plopping down onto her bed. She waved her hand in his general direction, "Well get on with it."

"You said you and your father were kicked out of your “family”, correct?"

"Correct," Azula nodded, "At least that's my guess,"

"Well I looked into what exactly your family is," Sokka continued, making Azula's eyes widen for a split second, "All the men that were destroying your house, they had a fire insignia burned into their left shoulder. I was sure I had seen it before."

Azula's watched him as he paced infront of her desk, "Last year I may have taken a look at some of my fathers case files-"

"May have?" She smirked,

"I was curious and I thought I could help!" Sokka insisted, making her chuckle, "Anyway! Inside there were pictures of buildings a gang called the Agni Kai had burned to the ground. They were littered with the same insignia that was burned into their shoulders- which means your grandpa, he's high up isn't he?"

"You think my grandfather is some mob boss?" Azula stated dumbfounded, turning her head to the side,

"It really isn't that surprising, your daddy is sketchy as fuck," He replied, "Barely home, suspicious amount of money, doesn't want you to be friends with people."

Azula quickly sharpened her glare on him, "He knows what's best for me, what's so wrong about that?"

"A lot of things," Sokka mumbled before rolling his eyes, "But I'm right aren't I?"

"Perhaps-" Azula yawned, letting her head fall onto her shoulder, 

"Which means your dad did something that got both you and him kicked out of the kill club?" Sokka stated, clearly proud of himself for figuring it all out on his own. Azula could admit it was slightly impressive, slightly,

"Kill club?" She asked,

"I thought it would be a good nickname," He smirked,

"Absolutely not, it's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," She said, making his smirk fall into a pout,

"Rude- just hurry up and tell me that I'm right," Sokka groaned,

"Well I suppose I can admit that you were fairly accurate," Azula nodded, 

"Yes! I knew it!" 

"Calm down- you wanted to know what we're getting into?" Azula said, a slight smirk on her face. Hopefully he will back off once he realizes how dangerous it really is, "My grandfather isn't just some mob boss okay? He's the leader."

“Like the leader leader- head honcho?” Sokka’s cocky face quickly paled as he watched her nod, "So if we keep looking for your dad?"

"We risk facing the wrath of the whole mafia? Yes," Azula smirked proudly, "I mean if you aren't up for it anymore it's understandable, considering how weak you are."

“What!” Sokka sneered, pointing at her, “I’m not weak! I punched that one dude straight in the face.”

“And almost broke your hand,” She added, making him look down at his fist. It had been bruised slightly, but luckily it wasn’t super noticeable, “Face it Sokka, this is too much for you. Don’t worry, I understand.”

“Don’t underestimate me Zula, I already said we were in this together and I meant it,” He said, walking in front of her, “Plus if it somehow leads to me taking down your grandpa it's a win-win.”

“Yeah sure, because that would totally happen,” Azula yawned again, 

“It totally could! You don’t know!” He pouted, “We find your dad, I catch your grandpa. Save you from a life of crime!”

“Oh no! Not a life of crime,” Azula faked a gasp and pretended to faint onto her bed, “What am I going to do?”

Sokka rolled his eyes as he looked down at her, “Pretend all you want. I know you want much more than sitting on some throne being bossed around by daddy.”

“I don’t know,” She sighed, “I’d look pretty hot on a throne.”

A slight blush spread across Sokka’s face. He didn’t want to tell her she was right, more importantly he really didn’t want that image to stay lingering in his head for too long, “Not the point.”

“And you called me a party pooper,” Azula snickered, a small smile appearing on her face, “Plus you could be my foot rest,”

“Uhuh, you’d like that wouldn’t you?” He chuckled, shaking his head at her,

“You are constantly being reminded that you are beneath me?” She said, raising one eyebrow towards him, “It’s my dream.”

“Damn Zula, I didn’t know I was your dream,” Sokka smirked as he watched her face grow red, very obviously flustering her, “While I’m honored, it is a bit creepy- I mean we aren’t even friends.”

“Shut up!” Azula said, sitting up and throwing her pillow at him. He laughed as he easily deflected the pillow, “You know that's not what I meant.”

“I am pretty dreamy,” He continued to chuckle, “So I can’t blame you.”

“Please, you are the opposite of dreamy,” Azula sneered as she rolled her eyes, “Now do you have anything else? Or can I get back to- I don’t know, sleeping?”

“No, guess I don’t,” He shrugged as he walked back over to her window, “I’ll let you get your beauty rest, clearly you need-”

“Get. Out.” She spit,

“I’m getting, I’m getting.” He said climbing out the window, “Jezz no need to be so aggressive.”

Azula got up only to slam the window in his face, making sure to stick her tongue out at him as he jumped back over to his house. She smiled to herself as she fell on the bed. Was it okay to admit she missed him yet? At least to herself?

The warm feeling that had grown in her chest started rapidly disappearing along with her smile. The bright light from her room faded away as she felt darkness consume her body. She grew cold; her heart beating faster. Azula's eyes shut tightly as she felt a hand cross over her cheek,

“Don’t get ahead of yourself not Azula,” The voice growled into her ear, “We don’t play with peasants.”

\-------------------

“You’re not going to tell me why Sokka was in your room yesterday are you?” Ty Lee pouted. She was leaning against the lockers as Azula put away her books. Ursa had forced her to ride with Zuko and the loser bunch to school. It was a less than stellar ride to say the least. Katara kept her eye on her the whole time, even while she was talking to Aang. Sokka had been half asleep, not like she wanted to talk to him anyway.

Luckily she had managed to avoid her big brother. He had tried to follow her from class to class, but gave up after she lost him the first few times. She wished Zuko was the only one watching her every move. Everywhere she went she felt eyes on her. Even when they were driving to school, it felt like she was being followed.

Whispers talking about how crazy she was didn’t help. Classmates were making up lies about how she had previously killed someone and moved here to escape the cops. Or how she would snap your neck if you looked at her funny. It was whatever, at least they weren’t trash talking Ty Lee instead.

She knew she wasn’t crazy. Just because she had been feeling more paranoid and anxious than usual didn’t mean she was going insane. For some reason though Sokka had seemed to think their stupid classmates were bothering her.

He started to walk with her from class to class, and glared at everyone he heard talk about her. Even when she insisted that she didn’t care, or told him to leave her alone, he kept doing it. Maybe it felt nice to have someone have her back again, but she wouldn’t admit that,

“Sokka was in your room?” Mai questioned finally looking up from her phone, “I thought you were done with that.”

“I am.” Azula stated, slamming her locker. She turned to face her glare at Ty Lee, “and It’s none of your business.”

“Aw come on!” Ty Lee whined, letting her hands fall down to her sides, “We’re your friends you can tell us.”

“There's nothing to tell,” Azula said blankly, “Don’t let your imagination run wild.”

Ty Lee mumbled something under her breath but Azula didn’t bother to listen to her. Instead she watched the people walking past them. It was hard to miss their snickers, or their looks of disgust. When Azula looked back to her small friend Ty Lee was looking at the ground, her fists tightening into balls as she held back a sob.

“Come on,” Azula sighed, nodding for her friends to follow her down the hall, “Zuzu will throw a fit if I don’t show up to lunch on time.”

She watched her friend perk out of her gloomy state and rush to follow her. Azula caught her wiping a tear from her cheek, “That means we get to sit with them! Right?”

“Don’t sound to excited,” Azula said,

“They’re always so loud,” Mai grimaced,

“Don’t lie Mai! I know you are dying to sit next to Zuko,” Ty Lee giggled, making her friend's face turn red. Azula nearly gagged. She knew Mai always had a thing for her brother but its not like she would ever understand why,

“Shut up.” Mai said, turning her flustered face back towards her phone.

It didn’t take long to reach the lunchroom. It was already lively, for most of the school had already arrived. A wave of silence cast over the students as their head turned to the trio. She could see Zuko stand up amongst the crowd and gesture for her to join them. Usually she would hate listening to him, but it was better than standing here and being laughed at.

The three of them made their way to his table where everyone in the loser gang was already sitting. They had been in their own conversation before they noticed the trio standing before them,

“Took you long enough,” Zuko said, sitting back down at the table,

“I had things to put away,” Azula replied. She and her two friends sat themselves at the end of the table, far away from the rest of the group. It was quiet for a while as the group looked at eachother,

“Hello Ty Lee, Mai… Azula.” Katara said, finally breaking the ice,

"Katara! How's the swim team?" Ty Lee was quick to smile and jump into conversation, "I heard you guys just won a match."

"Y-yeah we did," Katara responded clearly not expecting that level of enthusiasm. She may have glanced at Ty Lee but it wasn’t long before her eyes made their way back to Azula. It was clear she didn’t want her there,

“That’s great!” Ty Lee smiled, “Sorry I couldn’t make it-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Katara said, still keeping a threatening gaze locked on Azula, “Really, you can just come next time.”

Ty Lee lit up at the suggestion, before digging into her lunch. Mai stayed on her phone as Azula pulled out her lunch as well. Today she had plain chicken with apples and carrots. It wasn’t the most delicious thing in the world, but that didn’t exactly matter.

“What the hell is that?” Sokka grimaced as he looked over Azula's lunch. All his friends, excluding Toph, looked at him shocked to see him talking to her,

“It’s called food. I know you usually eat slobber so it’s probably shocking to see an actual healthy meal.” Azula nodded, refusing to turn to him,

“Don’t talk to him like that!” Katara snipped, glaring even harder at Azula. She looked like she was about to pounce on her, but Sokka held her back,

“Katara, it’s fine.” He insisted, making his sister turn her glare to him. She looked back at Azula before grabbing her brothers arm and dragging him away from the table,

“Katara! Hey!” Sokka complained, trying to pull himself from his sister,

“What are you talking about?” She whispered, visibly confused, “You’re just going to let her treat you like that?”

“I can handle myself, okay? It’s really not a big deal.” He whispered back, “Plus I don’t want to make this harder on Zuko.”

He watched his sister turn towards the table. Zuko was currently scolding Azula, something she responded to by flipping her dear brother off. Katara looked back at Sokka, clearly worried,

“Fine but- just remember she used us when we were kids,” She mumbled, “She doesn’t consider us anything but losers- I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

“I’ll be okay,” He nodded, “I can handle myself, don’t worry.”

His sister nodded at him, letting him lead her back to the table where Zuko and Azula were bickering with each other,

“Who are you betting on?” Toph leaned towards Sokka as he sat down, “My bets on Azula.”

“Hey!” Zuko said, turning to his friend, “Who’s side are you on?”

“Usually the winning one? Sorry sparky,” Toph snickered, 

“Wow- even your friends don’t believe in you Zuzu,” Azula smirked, twirling her fork around at him, “Isn’t that sad?”

“Sparky?” Ty Lee mumbled, looking over to Toph, 

“Zuko almost blew up Sokka in the ninth grade, now I call him sparky.” Toph smirked,

“My friends believe in me! Right Aang?” Zuko said, looking down to him helplessly,

“Y-yeah! Of course!” Aang smiled nervously,

“Convincing,” Azula said, taking a bite of her chicken. She tried not to grimace, it's not like it was supposed to taste good. It never did.

“Whatever.” Zuko finally sat back in defeat, receiving only an apologetic smile from Aang. Toph kept snickering as she shoved her sandwich down her throat. It was repulsive trying to eat around her and Sokka. They scarfed down their food like it was the last thing they’d ever eat. Azula glared at them before looking back at her own food, their food actually looks tasty too, what a waste.

"Oh Azula!" Ty Lee said, scooting her chair closer to her friend. She looked far too excited, it was worrisome, "I forgot to tell you yesterday, but we have a match against Suki's team soon."

"So?" Azula sighed, scooting away from her, "Who cares."

“I do!” She pouted, “She's coming back up here for that whole week. I thought it would be fun for us to hang out with her again.”

It was hard to miss Sokka’s head perking up at the news, why was he so excited? In fact it wasn’t just him, they all seemed rather excited,

“R-really? Suki is coming back?” Sokka said, a smile quickly spreading across his face, “I haven't seen her in almost a year-”

“Why would you think I’d want to see her,” Azula rolled her eyes, 

“We used to hang out with her- plus were all friends!” Ty Lee insisted,

“Wrong- you are friends with her,” Azula corrected, “I was not, nor will ever be, friends with Suki.”

Ty Lee’s face fell along with her shoulders. Did she really think they were friends? All Azula and Suki ever did was argue. Suki would always say Azula was too mean to be captain, and that she was much too hard on the other girls. That wasn’t the main problem Azula had with Suki though, maybe Ty Lee just hoped they would finally get along after all this time? No way she was that stupid,

“But maybe- things could be different.” Ty Lee said, hope filling her voice, 

“She's your rival, you should be focusing on beating her,” Azula stated bluntly, not even bothering to look at her friend, “That is the goal isn't it?”

“Please azula! We could all do old cheer routines,” She said before turning to the rest of the table, “Maybe we could throw a party for both of the teams!”

“Wow a party- pass.” Azula groaned,

“Not like azula could go, she's grounded,” Zuko decided to add, the cockyness that appeared on his face didn’t suit him. It needed to be wiped away,

“Like you could ever stop me,” Azula hissed, glaring at him,

“You sure?” He replied,

“You wanna find out?” She said pulling her fork down,

“I think a party is a great idea!” Katara said, ignoring the siblings who were currently scowling at each other, “ Where would we have it?””

“I don't think my parents would mind if we have it at our place!” Ty Lee said, jumping over to Katara and grabbing her hands, “You really think it's a good idea?”

“Yeah!” She nodded, “I can help make food- and help decorate”

“Mom alert,” Toph snickered,

“I'm not a mom!” Katara was quick to argue, “Stop calling me that!”

“I mean- you kind of are,” Aang said with a half smile,

“Aang!”

“What? It's a good thing.” He insisted,

“When did Suki say she's coming up?” Sokka asked. Azula didn’t need to look up to know he had a big smile on his face. Her fists clenched around her fork. She could feel her bruises pulse as her grip continued to tighten “Also did she uh- say anything else?”

“The match is in two weeks,” Ty Lee said, tapping her finger to her chin, “So around then I guess?”

“Is everyone in?” Katara asked, looking around the table. She made sure to skip over Azula, clearly not caring if she came or not,

“Pass.” Azula and Mai both said in unison,

“Mai, Azula, Please! I promise it will be fun,” Ty Lee pouted, 

“Define fun?” Mai sighed,

“I have better things to do then hang out with Suki,” Azula groaned, shoving her lunch hastily into her backpack. Swinging it over her shoulder as she got up from the table,

“Azula! Get back here!” Zuko commanded, quickly standing up from his chair as she walked away,

“Relax I’m just going to class,” Azula grimaced, not turning back to him, 

“Azula!” He called again. He didn’t give up like Azula wanted. No, instead he had the brilliant idea to run over to her and grabbing her arm,

“Get off my dick Zuzu!” Azula glared, snatching her arm away from him and stomping on his foot. He groaned loudly as he started hoping on his other foot trying to shake away the pain, “Your mommy isn't here to see you be a good little boy, so leave me alone.”

Most of the cafetera had caught wind of what was happening already. Peoples heads turned to the siblings and it wasn’t long until voices about her filled the room,

“See I told you she was crazy!”

“What the hell is wrong with her?”

“I feel bad for Ty Lee- I can’t imagine having a psycho for a friend.”

Zuko didn’t move. He didn’t say anything, not to her or anyone else. She saw his eyes glance around the room before she continued to walk away. Her chest felt tight as she pushed through the crowded halls. People continued to mock her, laugh at her, whisper things about her,

“He didn’t say anything because he knows they're right,” The voice chuckled in her ear. She wanted to scream, tell it to go away, tell everyone to go away, “You’re losing it Azula- it's embarrassing.”

“Shut. Up.” Was all she managed to mumble as she disappeared in the halls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off thank you for 100 kudos! It means a lot <3  
> Second I want to make it known that I do intend on finishing this fanfic! Consistent weekly updates have been a challenge for me, and while I'd like for it to be a thing, I don't know if I will be able to manage it. So thank you for being patient! Even if the updates are slow going I will finish the rest of the story. (I have it all planned out after all) Thank you for reading!


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